The Portuguese President will be received by the British monarch on Thursday morning at Buckingham Palace, where the two national anthems will be played and the two heads of state will review English and Portuguese soldiers on parade.

Later, they will participate in a ceremony in the Queen’s Chapel of the Palace of Saint James, which was used by Queen Catarina de Bragança – known in English as Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), who was married to the English King Charles II.

The Anglican religious service will include readings from biblical texts and contemporary English and Portuguese music performed by musicians and two choirs and should last around 40 minutes in total.

Official representatives from Portugal and the United Kingdom will be present, including the respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho and James Cleverly.

Inside the chapel will be on display the original of the Treaty of London of 1373, signed by Edward III of England and Fernando I of Portugal, which started what is the longest diplomatic alliance in force in the world.

The celebrations of the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance are the result of an unofficial voluntary and non-profit initiative, which started in 2018 and is called Portugal-UK 650.

Portugal-UK 650 estimates that it has promoted over the last four years at least 300 activities with more than 180 partners in areas such as academic research, education, culture, economics or the military.