H.E. THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. DE MARCO ON AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE UNITED KINGDOM

H.E. the President and Mrs de Marco will be leaving Malta on Tuesday 24^th October for an official visit to the United Kingdom.

During this four-day official visit President de Marco will have an audience with H.M. Queen Elizabeth and meetings with The Rt Hon Robin Cook, MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Lord Chancellor, The Rt Hon The Lord Irvine of Lairg, QC.

The President will also be hosting a reception for Maltese nationals at the Malta High Commission and another one for diplomatic personnel at the High Commissioner's official residence.

As part of the official programme, H.E. Prof. Guido de Marco will deliver an address on A Strategy for the Mediterranean at the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London. The President will also be holding a high-level meeting with academics on the subject of A Second Generation United Nations at the University of Cambridge.

The President will attend a dinner at Lancaster House to be hosted by the Minister for Europe, Keith Vaz, MP, and a lunch at the Mansion House as the guest of the Lord Mayor of the City of London.

Mrs de Marco will be visiting separately the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street where a number of Maltese children are flown for medical treatment. Mrs de Marco will be accompanied by Mrs George Bonello du Puis and Mrs Alfred Cachia.

The President will also be accompanied by Dr George Bonello de Puis, High Commissioner of Malta to the Court of St James's; Mr Salv. J. Stellini, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr Charles Chase, Secretary to the Presidency; Mr Alfred Cachia, Head of Protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Capt. David Mifsud, Aide-de-Camp; and Mrs Sylvana Debono, Press Spokesperson at the Office of the President.

The British High Commissioner in Malta, H.E. Howard Pearce, will be in attendance during the President's stay in the UK.

Malta and the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland consider this first official visit by a Maltese Head of State as a further sign of the strong ties that exist between the two countries.