PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. congratulated King Charles III and Queen Camilla on their coronation over the weekend and wished the new British monarch a “long and happy reign.”

Marcos also said he hopes the coronation would bring peace and prosperity to the United Kingdom. 

“May his Coronation signify the start of a new chapter of peace, progress, and prosperity for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth,” Marcos said in a statement. 

The President, along with his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, attended the historic coronation of King Charles III and the Queen consort at the Westminster Abbey in London last May 6. 

Marcos expressed his honor at representing the Filipino nation in the historic occasion. 

“I join the community of nations in congratulating His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla on the joyous occasion of their Coronation on 06 May 2023, at Westminster Abbey in London,” he said. 

“It was as grand and magnificent a ceremony as could have been, full of symbolism and weighted by history. It was a great honor for me to represent the Philippines on such a historic occasion,” he added. 

Prior to the coronation, Marcos met the monarch at a reception held at Buckingham Palace and said the Filipinos send him their congratulations. 

He said the King asked about his mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, who he had met on previous occasions.

“He asked after his friend, my mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, and recounted fond memories of the time they shared together,” the Philippine president said. 

They go way back 

This was apparently not the first time that Marcos had met the King.

An earlier report quoted Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Teodoro Locsin Jr. as saying that the President and the King know each other because they used to play the sport polo together. 

Marcos studied at Oxford University in England where he received a Special Diploma in Social Studies 1978, which Filipino Oxford graduates said is different from a degree.