King Charles and the Queen Consort host royal reception for British ESEA communities
Last night, King Charles and the Queen Consort hosted the inaugural reception to celebrate the British East and South-East Asian communities at Buckingham Palace. The reception took place during Lunar New Year, and the guests included representatives from the armed forces, the arts, business, government, healthcare, faith organisations and charities.
There was a strong cohort from the British fashion scene: Simone Rocha and her father John, Huishan Zhang, Edeline Lee, Rejina Pyo, Han Chong and Eudon Choi. The Louis Wain director and White Lotus actor Will Sharpe, Alexa Chung, and Bazaar’s features director Helena Lee were also in attendance, and met with the King and Queen Consort, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.
“Having a reception at the palace to honour the much-overlooked British ESEA communities is a symbol of recognition and togetherness,” says Lee. “The past three years have been particularly difficult for those of East and South-East Asian heritage, and so, to mark Lunar New Year with this occasion has been incredibly meaningful.”
Exactly a year ago, Lee published her book of essays East Side Voices (Sceptre), that aimed to raise the visibility of those of ESEA heritage in Britain. She was also invited to take part in a roundtable discussion with The King, then Prince Charles, about hate crime towards the Chinese and wider East and South-East Asian Communities. “Though there has been progress, especially in the area of media and the arts,” Lee says, “there is still much to do in the wider societal narrative to dismantle the stigma and objectification the communities face.”
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