On Thursday March 5 and Friday March 6, 2009, His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, KG — second son and third child of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (UK) — was on official visit to Montenegro. The Duke’s two-day agenda in the country notably included on March 5, a closed-door meeting at the head office of “Adriatic Marinas” in Tivat — the company, majority-owned by Canadian billionaire Mr. Peter Munk, that builds the elite nautical-tourist centre and future leading marina for mega and super yachts in the Mediterranean called “Porto Montenegro”; and on March 6, a meeting with the President of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Filip Vujanović, at the State Residence “Villa Gorica”, a meeting with the Montenegrin Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Milan Roćen, at the British Embassy in Podgorica — as part of the formal inauguration ceremony of the new Embassy facility at Ulcinjska 8, and a luncheon in the afternoon, offered by the Prime Minister of Montenegro, H.E. Mr. Milo Đukanović.

On March 5, during his tour of “Adriatic Marinas”, accompanied by T.Exc. Mr. Kevin Douglas Lyne, British Ambassador in Podgorica, Mr. Dragiša Burzan, Montenegrin Ambassador in London, and Mr. Branimir Gvozdenović, Minister for Economic Development of Montenegro, H.R.H. the Duke of York had a meet with Messr. Oliver Corlette, Executive Director of “Adriatic Marinas”, and Dragan Kankaraš, Mayor of Tivat. After he had been fully introduced with the development plans of Tivat’s nautical-tourist centre, the Duke — who serves since 2001 as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, succeeding H.R.H. Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent — expressed to his hosts his greatest interest in the half billion-euro project “Porto Montenegro” and gave his strong support to it.
Apart from Mr. Munk who owns 54% of Adriatic Marinas, important shares of the company are held by British funds, notably by Lord Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, and his son Nathaniel of the renowned Rothschild banking family’s British branch.

The day after at 11:30am, during the ceremony for the formal opening of the new British Embassy facility in Podgorica, notably attended by Mrs. Gordana Đurović, Vice-Prime Minister for European Integration, and Mr. Ranko Krivokapić, President of the Montenegrin Parliament, the Duke emphasized in his address the traditional good relations between the United Kingdom and Montenegro, praising the successful work already accomplished by the Embassy staff regardless of its small number of employees, and underlining the need for closer communication and co-operation between British and Montenegrin governments, to further strengthen UK support and assistance on Montenegro’s European and Euro-Atlantic path.

As for him, Minister Roćen in his address in reply — after recalling that 2009 commemorated 130 years of diplomatic relation establishment between the two countries, and telling the Duke about the great pride of the Montenegrin people to receive on its soil a senior member of the British Royal Family — thanked the United Kingdom for its support to the democratic changes in Montenegro and to the country’s efforts towards European Union and Euro-Atlantic integration, insisting on the synergistic dedication of everyone in Montenegro to build rule of law structures in line with the highest European standards.

The luncheon that followed was the occasion for the Duke to hold talks with Prime Minister Đukanović in a very cordial atmosphere, as well as with several cabinet ministers, notably T.Exc. Mr. Roćen, Mr. Gvozdenović, Mr. Predrag Nenezić, Minister of Tourism and Environmental Protection, and Mr. Andrija Lompar, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication. After renewing to the Prime Minister his morning’s words that the United Kingdom sincerely wants to be a partner to Montenegro on its integration path, the Duke, in his role as UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, discussed the promotion of economic co-operation and the creation of possibilities for British investors to be involved in the overall privatisation process in Montenegro, notably forwarding to his Montenegrin interlocutors the particular interest of some UK investors to participate in the forthcoming Port of Bar’s privatisation.

In the afternoon end, His Royal Highness left Montenegro for the Royal Air Force Northolt airport, west of London. During his visit to Montenegro, the Duke was accompanied by his Assistant Private Secretary, Mrs. Amanda Thirsk.