His Majesty King Charles III and The Queen Consort Camilla hosted a reception last week, Wednesday 1st February, at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the contribution of East and South-East Asian communities to the United Kingdom, to the arts, media, fashion, business, and healthcare. 

Among the over-300 invited, consultant cardiologists Dr Manish Gandhi and Dr Ash Kotecha, and clinical nurse manager Edmond Hernaez of the Royal Devon, were in attendance as representatives of healthcare professionals. 

When speaking about the reception, Ed Hernaez said "The King told me of his appreciation of the hard-working Filipino nurses in UK. This was very uplifting and inspirational.” 

Dr Kotecha added "He empathised about the challenges of my busy clinical work, and expressed genuine concern about maintaining my personal wellbeing.” 

"His Majesty was incredibly charming, very warm and interested in our individual conversations, asked probing questions, and came across as deeply humane, and very appreciative of British Asian contributions to society" Dr Gandhi told us. 

A number of other members of the Royal Family were also in attendance, including: The Princess Royal, The Earl of Wessex, The Duke of Kent, The Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra.