The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III in Westminster Abbey on Saturday marked a historic occasion for the United Kingdom and its people. I was thrilled to host hundreds of our friends from Nepal, the British community and beyond over the weekend to celebrate this occasion together.

Watching The King’s Coronation and celebrating with friends here served as a reminder of King Charles’ personal connection to Nepal. As well as being Commander in Chief of the Gurkhas, His Majesty The King has visited Nepal three times. He has walked the trails above Pokhara and the hills above Dharan and I know that he recalls the incredible beauty of Nepal, as well as warmth of its people.

King Charles has put his passion for youth, community, diversity, and sustainability at the heart of the Coronation celebrations. Primary schools across the UK are being sent wild flower seeds to help children learn more about the importance of biodiversity and improve biodiversity in school grounds. The Coronation emblem represents The King’s love of the natural world, depicting the flora of the four nations of the UK in the shape of St Edward’s Crown.

If you watched the Coronation you might also have heard five different languages as part of the service. In Nepali terms of course, that is still very few—but the symbolism of Welsh, Celtic, Scots Gaelic and Irish is a powerful reminder of the value of diversity in language. For the first time in the UK’s history women bishops also played a key role in the crowning of the monarch, and in a demonstration of the diversity of religion in the UK, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders took part in the ceremony.

This mix of history, diversity, sustainability and modern values in the coronation ceremony resonates deeply with our shared values and with what I think lies at the heart of the UK-Nepal relationship. The diverse languages and cultures of the UK at the coronation mirror Nepal’s own diversity and the strong constitutional freedoms for all that are admired internationally. These are the values that not only underpin our deep bonds of friendship, but also our partnership. Our strong people-to-people links, the invaluable contribution of the Gurkhas, and initiatives to tackle climate change, promote the rights of women and girls, support education, boost trade, and economic development clearly demonstrate this partnership in practice.

This year also marks 100 years since the signing of the Nepal-UK Treaty of Friendship, recognising Nepal’s independent sovereignty and further cementing our 207 years of bilateral relations. As we celebrate the coronation of King Charles III with our Nepali friends, we are proud of our modern partnership and confident about the next 100 years of friendship. Our two nations have much to gain from this including in tackling climate change, increasing trade and investment, strengthening democracy and our work to support Nepal’s development as it graduates from Least Developed Country status. We are proud to stand with Nepal as it works towards a more prosperous, secure, and democratic future, and we look forward to building on the many successes of our partnership.

Over the last three and a half years I have travelled widely across Nepal. I have tried to learn at least one of Nepal’s many languages and I have met people from the many diverse communities in all seven provinces. As I come to the end of my time in this incredible country, the coronation and the centenary of our Friendship Treaty are an opportunity to celebrate our partnership and our deep bonds of friendship, and to look forward to the next 100 years. I am confident that those shared values of diversity, sustainability, and democracy will continue to strengthen our relationship, benefiting our peoples for generations to come.