British Ambassador, John Marshall;

On Wednesday 2 May, the British Ambassador to Luxembourg, John Marshall, held a reception at his residence to celebrate the launch of his book #LuxUKLinks which documents many links between the UK and Luxembourg, many historical, some cultural, etc.

Ambassador John Marshall addressed the mixed audience and spoke in both Luxembourgish and English and acknowledged that the book saw its first launch about a week ago in Bettembourg and is already in stock in Ernster bookshops.

He confirmed that the proceeds of the sale of the book go towards the Friends of Luxembourg association.

He said that it is great fun when one arrives in a new country and finds links with where one comes from.

It was on 15 September 2016 when he published his first tweet on links between the two countries - using the hashtag #LuxUKLinks - which he had discovered during his runs in the Luxembourg countryside; after a few more tweets he began to get some positive feedback; then, around a year ago he launched the exhibition at his residence, with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel the guest of honour.

The exhibition of 24 roll-up banners has been hosted in 26 different venues, in municipalities and schools, as well as in museums; it has recently been shipped off to the UK, first to Sheffield, where Ambassador Marshall will travel tomorrow to talk about it to another audience.

He was then encouraged to publish a book about the links between the UK and Luxembourg. The collection has now expanded to 75 links, and he has reached a total of 209 tweets on links between the two countries.

On the issue of Brexit; while technically the UK will be a third country re the EU in the future, he sees that the association between the two countries will continue, and this exhibition and book will help to reinforce those links.

He also referred to the recently-launched RAF exhibition to celebrate its anniversary, which is also currently on display at the residence.

The evening continued with a cocktail reception.​