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Press Release
First Governor to wed in the Falkland Islands
21st October 2004


His Excellency The Governor of the Falkland Islands Mr Howard Pearce CVO will marry his Dutch fiancée Caroline Thomée on 21 October 2004 in Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley, the world's most southerly Anglican Cathedral.

This is the first time that an Islands Governor has been married on Falklands soil. The couple first met in the Islands in 2003 at Stanley Airport while waiting for a flight to one of the archipelago's outlying Islands. They then kept in touch by email and Miss Thomée moved to the Islands later that year.

H.E. the Governor will be married in his formal Governor's uniform and be supported by his best man Robert Napier, Chief Executive of the World Wildlife Fund. Miss Thomée will be supported by her best friend Loeky Kramer from Holland. The couple will exchange rings featuring Falklands gold and Miss Thomée's wedding dress will include wool from the Falkland Islands. They will have a Falkland Islands Defence Force Guard of Honour when they exit the Cathedral.

The happy couple are celebrating their big day with the local community. Falklands school children have been given the day off and the wedding service will be relayed on loud speakers outside the Cathedral. Those unable to attend will be able to watch the proceedings through live web cam coverage. After photographs the couple will proceed to the Town Hall where they have invited all members of the community to join in their celebrations. Over 30 friends and family are travelling to the Falklands for the occasion. The couple plan to honeymoon in the Islands later in the year.

Miss Thomée, 38, comes from Delft in Holland. She is a talented wildlife photographer and an architect by profession.

Mr Pearce, 55, was born in Twickenham and attended Cambridge and Harvard Universities. After a long and distinguished diplomatic career he was posted to the Falkland Islands in December 2002.

Mr Pearce said: "We both fell in love first with the Islands and then each other. We therefore decided it would be fitting to celebrate our wedding here. I certainly didn't expect to find my wife in the Falklands but these things have a strange knack of happening when you least expect them."

ENDS

For more information about the Falkland Islands and photography of the wedding please contact Abby Smith or Iona- Jane McGilchrist on 020 7287 0652 or email iona-jane@keenepa.co.uk

Notes to Editors 1. The Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic, about 300 miles from the nearest point on the South American mainland. The Islands are made up of two large islands (East and West Falkland) and some 778 smaller islands, covering an area over half the size of Wales. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland.

2. Over the past 20 years, the Falkland Islands have become one of the most modern and dynamic Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom. Supreme authority is vested by HM The Queen and exercised by H.E. The Governor on her behalf, with the advice and assistance of an Executive and Legislative Council.

3. The Islands are economically self-sufficient in all areas except defence - the cost of which amounts to some 0.5% of the total UK defence budget.

4. H.E. The Governor Howard Pearce and Miss Caroline Thomée's wedding on 21 October 2004 can be viewed via the following link: www.webcams.horizon.co.fk



Contacts:

Sam Allanson-Bailey, Falkland Islands Government Office, London Contact tel +44 (0) 20 7222 2542. E-mail admin@falklands.gov.fk



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