British Red Arrows aircraft flew over Lisbon this morning in conjunction with Portuguese F-16s. The objective was to mark the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance.
The British air force’s Red Arrows flew directly from the royal anniversary, Trooping The Colour marked this Saturday, to the city of Lisbon where they flew over the Tagus River, Avenida da Liberdade and Parque Eduardo VII this morning.
The British aircraft flew alongside Portuguese Air Force F-16s as a way of marking the bilateral relationship between Portugal and the UK on the 650th anniversary of the Luso-British Alliance.
The Lisbon City Council shared a video of the event where you can see the spectacle over the city’s airspace.
Recall that the celebrations of the 650th anniversary of this alliance are being organized by the non-profit project that started in 2018 under the name Portugal-UK 650. In the context of this initiative, King Charles III and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa gathered in London on Thursday, in the Queen’s Chapel of Saint James Palace, a church that belonged to Catherine of Braganza, Princess of Portugal and Queen of the United Kingdom.
The Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Alliance was signed on June 16, 1373, by Edward III of England and King Ferdinand I of Portugal, and formalizes the rapprochement of the two countries brought about by the Treaty of Tagilde, signed a year earlier, on July 10, 1372, and concluded between King Ferdinand I and the emissaries of the Duke of Lancaster, John of Ghent, son of Edward III.
The alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Windsor of 1386 and by several other treaties over the centuries.