Senior residents who were present at the 1997 Hand-Over well remember those days of raw emotion. The greatest Empire* the world has ever seen was coming to an end. At the HMS Tamar quayside, nearly everyone was in tears, notably the Chris Patten family, as HMS Britannia pulled away from the wharf with its escort, the frigate HMS Chatham. The rain poured down, which seemed symbolic.
With friends I had just disembarked from HMS Chatham where we had been attending a drinks party on the bridge. This had been arranged for the Hong Kong Hash House Harriers by Chris Pooley, a Swire director and former Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander.
These reminiscences are inspired by a book I have just read, Chris Patten’s “The Hong Kong Diaries”. It’s relatively new, just four years old. Here Patten, now Baron Patten of Barnes, takes up the story:
“At the quayside, lots of our friends had gathered to give Lavender and even me a last hug. All my policy secretaries and Exco members, and a number of other senior officials, had hurried to the quay by coach, which can’t have been a very politically correct thing to do. We hugged them, too. I kissed Anson (Chan, Chief Secretary) for the first time and wished her luck. I could only cope with the emotion by being brisk and gauntly cheerful. A few handshakes with a bemused group of Chinese officials led by their Vice Foreign Minister, and then a last good-bye to Robin Cook and his cheerful doctor wife, Margaret, who kissed me on both cheeks. Lavender and the girls went up the royal ramp with me, faces crumpled with emotion and streaked with tears. I walked up last behind the Prince, turning to wave as the band on Britannia played ‘Auld Lang Syne’.
The Patten family leave Government House for the last time
“And so it ended. We pulled away from the quay, the crowd cheered and waved, singing ‘Rule Britannia’. Followed by HMS Chatham and our escorting patrol craft, we pulled into midstream and drove down the harbour through a canyon of light, every window seeming to explode with the flashbulbs of cameras. A flotilla of small vessels followed as far as Lei Yue Mun gap, where crowds lined the shore and cheered the departing oppressors. Then we sailed off into the night and the empty sea. Lavender and I gave the girls a hug, and went down to bed. I was tired. Tired but more deeply happy than I have ever been. The job was done. Lavender and I were going home.”
Most people don’t what know happened then.
“We spent two and a half days on Britannia, arriving in Manila, just after lunch on 3 July. It was an extraordinary experience. Living in this elegant old ship is rather like spending a weekend in a very agreeable country house. The Prince of Wales was a charming host, kind, courteous, amusing. He was particularly good with our girls, who sparkled. He spend some of the journey painting, and some reading poems by Rilke.
The Royal Navy escorted the Britannia through the South China Sea
“As the first morning wore on, so the ships of the Royal Navy’s taskforce, ‘Ocean Wave’, appeared all around us. There were 16 in all, the largest British fleet in these waters for years.” The Britannia sailed between lines of the naval ships. The crews of each vessel were on deck to cheer the last British Governor and his party. Lavender and Patten moved backwards and forwards across the deck to acknowledge the cheers. The 16 vessels included Type 22 and Type 23 frigates, patrol ships, fleet auxiliaries, a nuclear submarine and the aircraft carrier ‘Illustrious’. “On the second day, with the sea millpond calm under blue skies and fluffy cloud, there was a flypast as ‘Illustrious’ pulled alongside and her Sea Harriers tore off into the heavens. Later the fleet’s helicopters and Harriers joined together to salute us as the western sky turned pink, yellow and blood orange with the setting sun.”
Whisky and Soda in the Government House garden
We mustn’t end this review without a mention of the Patten Yorkshire terriers, Whisky and Soda. It is clear he loved them deeply. Soda was notable for always barking when the Government House front gate policemen saluted them. Whisky bit a carpenter and had to spend weeks in quarantine. Running over Black’s Link one day with a companion I met Lavender Patten walking with Whisky and Soda. I stopped and chatted briefly to her about the dogs. She was most friendly, no airs, and no protection officer. My companion was astonished: Roger is talking to the Governor’s wife!
Is ‘The Hong Kong Diaries” a good read? Only in parts, as a diary it’s disjointed. And there’s too much arcana about the interminable discussions with the Chinese about the Hand-Over (Patten is scathing in his description of CCP individuals). But for people who were here in 1997 and Hong Kong lovers everywhere the book will bring waves of nostalgia.
The Hong Kong Diaries, by Chris Patten. Allen Lane, 2022. ISBN: 978-0241560495
* To fully appreciate the greatness of the British Empire, the colour, the drama, the personalities, the pomp and circumstance, read Jan Morris’s Pax Britannica series. Baron Patten describes the trilogy as “masterly”.
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