When Halwa, Gujiya Were Served At Queen's Party

London: Raj puri, halwa, gujiya and tandoori chicken were served at the Buckingham Palace on Monday for Queen Elizabeth's grand party to mark the UK-India Year of Culture 2017. The royal chefs cooked up thousands of Indian-themed canapes for the event.

The Queen, along with Prince Charles and Kate Middleton, welcomed guests such as veteran actor Kamal Haasan, cricket legend Kapil Dev and sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar.

"India is so diverse that one can't stop falling in love. Fifteen languages and English are spoken in just one country and we go back so many years. We are so familiar with their culture too..." said Kamal Hassan.

Former cricket captain Kapil Dev, who led India to its 1983 World Cup victory in England, said, "This culture year should have been done much before, but better late than never. We hope to see and participate in as much cultural exchange."

Rain washed out the planned Change of Guard ceremony to AR Rahman's Oscar winning "Jai Ho". The royal band, however, did play the song and many more Bollywood numbers.

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As Britain prepares to initiate Article 50 to enable its exit from the European Union next month, many in India are hoping that it will manage a free trade agreement with Britain post Brexit.

"Brexit should not be interpreted as a way by Britain to shut its doors, but to open up to the rest of the world. We will negotiate a free trade deal when we legally can, once the EU exit begins and ends. On free trade and people, they have to decide based on their policy," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is on a five-day UK visit.

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The highlight of the grand party was too big for the palace - a colourful projection of India and at the centre of it, a peacock.