THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Jill Biden – along with her granddaughter Finnegan – was the unexpected guest of honor at the Coronation street party in Downing Street where she joined UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty for tea with 150 "community heroes".
Many of the guests were winners of the Prime Minister's Points of Light awards, which are given out to people who do extraordinary things to change their communities.
The event was part of The Big Lunch, a nationwide initiative to bring neighbors and communities together to celebrate the Coronation. Downing Street was draped in Union Flag bunting, hanging from window to window and across the street.
Two long tables, covered in white linen, were arranged in parallel along the street, outside the famous black front door. The food was sourced from across the UK, with offerings of finger sandwiches and pork pies, as well as soda farl (flat soda bread) from Northern Ireland and Duart salmon from Sutherland in northern Scotland.
The First Lady, seated next to the Prime Minister, was sat across from Laura Ashurst, a breast cancer campaigner from Stokesly in North Yorkshire. They discussed the work Mrs Biden has been doing with people with breast cancer, since after accepting a teaching job at Delaware Technical Community College, four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer and she launched the Biden Breast Health Initiative to educate Delaware high school girls about the importance of early detection and prevention efforts.
After 30 minutes, Jill Biden, Rishi Sunak and his wife all got up to walk the length of the tables to talk to the guests and then Mrs Biden and her granddaughter had to go to catch the plane home. Overall, a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday lunchtime.
