Queen Elizabeth II hosts G-7 leaders, spouses

FALMOUTH, England — Queen Elizabeth II has hosted the Group of Seven leaders at an evening reception where Britain’s royals mingled with some of the world’s most powerful politicians.

The event, which was closed to most media, saw royals, world leaders and their spouses enjoying drinks at Cornwall’s Eden Project, an attraction that features the world’s largest indoor rainforest within giant domes.

Three generations of the monarchy attended the event, held on the first evening of a three-day summit in Cornwall, southwest England. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were joined by Prince William and his wife Kate, who were taking part in G-7 events for the first time.

The leaders and their partners, including U.S. President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden, will have a dinner of roasted turbot, Cornish new potatoes and greens with wild garlic pesto cooked by a local chef.

Also from the G-7 meeting

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed commitments by the U.S. and Britain to share millions of coronavirus vaccine shots with struggling countries. But he says it’s not enough.

Without a global effort, Guterres says the coronavirus could “spread like wildfire” in much of developing world.

Leaders from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies are expected to commit to share at least 1 billion vaccine shots with poorer countries, with half the doses coming from the U.S. and 100 million from the U.K.

Guterres says to defeat the virus, countries producing vaccines need to form an emergency task force to coordinate an effective response to covid-19.

“We need a concerted effort, we need a global vaccination plan,” says Guterres, who will join the summit. “If not, the risk is there will still be large areas of the developing world where the virus spreads like wildfire.”

Guterres stressed “we are on the verge of the abyss” regarding climate change. He says leaders of developing economies need to urgently commit to net zero emissions by the middle of the century.

AP

Carrie Johnson, wife of Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, greets U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, on Friday at a reception with the G7 leaders at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the Group of Seven wealthy democracies must learn lessons from the pandemic, and not repeat errors made over the past 18 months and during the recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis.

Opening three days of talks with fellow G-7 leaders in Cornwall, southwest England on Friday, Johnson said there was a risk the pandemic could leave a “lasting scar” as “inequalities may be entrenched.”

He said it’s vital that governments and international institutions don’t make the same mistakes they did after the financial crisis, “when the recovery was not uniform across all parts of society.”

The British leader said the goal should be to “level up across our societies” and “build back better.”

Leaders of the G-7, which include Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, are expected to commit to sharing at least 1 billion vaccine doses with countries that are struggling to secure enough shots.

The pledge includes commitments from U.S. President Joe Biden to share 500 million doses and from Johnson for another 100 million shots.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greeted leaders from the Group of Seven nations and the European Union on a wooden boardwalk on the freshly raked sand of Carbis Bay to open the G-7 summit on Friday.

Johnson wore a charcoal gray suit and light blue tie. The prime minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, was in a hot pink mid-length dress.

The couple greeted leaders with elbow bumps and small talk about social distancing and the weather, under typically moody English skies.

Johnson, who wed the former Carrie Symonds last month, later joked it was like walking down the aisle.

Reporters asked U.S. President Joe Biden what his message was for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom Biden is scheduled to meet with next week. The president replied, “I’ll tell you after I’ve delivered it.”

The G-7 leaders posed for a group photo. As the group walked away, led by Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron threw his arm around Biden’s shoulder and began an animated discussion.

Macron’s office said the French leader and Biden discussed China, agreeing there should be no confrontation but Western democracies must defend their values and interests. The two men, who were meeting for the first time, talked for several minutes while heading to a meeting room.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she hopes Group of Seven leaders achieve “very good results” on coronavirus vaccines and show the world “we’re not just thinking of ourselves.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said ahead of a leaders’ summit starting Friday that he expected the G-7 to commit to sharing 1 billion doses with countries around the world.

Germany has said it plans to donate 30 million of its vaccine doses by the end of the year, part of a commitment of 100 million by the European Union. Merkel’s government has noted that Germany has been a major donor to the U.N.-backed COVAX facility, which is supplying doses to poorer countries, and that the EU has been a major exporter of vaccines.

Merkel said after arriving at the summit: “I hope that we will achieve very good results to show that we’re not just thinking of ourselves, but we’re also thinking of those who don’t yet have the opportunity to get vaccinated — above all, African countries, but others, too.”

She didn’t elaborate on what those results would be.