His Royal Highness Prince William congratulates North Rhine-Westphalia on its 70th birthday at the official ceremony on 23 August in Düsseldorf's Tonhalle. In doing so he honors a special bond link between the United Kingdom and NRW.
70 years after the state was established by the British military administration, relations are closer than ever. Today, even though large parts of the British armed forces have now been withdrawn, there are still around 27,000 British nationals living here. This is also due in particular to close economic relations. In his speech, Prince William pointed out that NRW is the most important trading partner in Germany. With around 1,400 British companies, including BP and Vodafone, the UK is invariably among the top 10 investor countries in NRW. The Duke of Cambridge congratulated NRW on now being known worldwide for its economic strength, quality of life and international solidarity.
Minister President Hannelore Kraft emphasized in her speech that the British had intuitively made an excellent decision with 'Operation Marriage': "The British administration created a stable base for seven decades of freedom, democracy, prosperity and solidarity in North Rhine-Westphalia and thus for the Federal Republic as a whole."