Buckingham Palace was regarded as the highest political symbol of Britain. The grandest diplomatic events were basically held in Buckingham Palace. Even many leaders of other countries who visited Britain stayed in Buckingham Palace.
Generally speaking, Buckingham Palace had a very high status in Britain, but not only the leaders of various countries had the opportunity to be invited. In fact, the British royal family often invited elites from all walks of life to Buckingham Palace as guests, such as Olympic champions, famous athletes from the national football team, popular singers, actors, artists, well-known experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs.
Not only would elites from all walks of life in the UK be invited by Buckingham Palace, but even elites from other countries would often be guests of honor, such as Bill Gates and Li Jiacheng.
There were dozens of reception activities in Buckingham Palace a year, most of which were non-political activities. The British royal family hoped to convey the royal family's concern for the whole country and even the whole world through non-political meetings with elites from all walks of life.
After driving for nearly an hour, Li Mu and William's motorcade drove into an area of Buckingham Palace that was not open to the public.
Buckingham Palace was the supreme palace in Britain. It was famous even throughout Europe. Although the buildings here were not as large as Goldberg Manor, they were generally more exquisite and luxurious.
In addition to the main palace, there were three ancillary palaces in the entire Buckingham Palace. However, at this stage, Buckingham Palace was not open to the public. Most tourists were blocked in front of the fence outside the main palace. Although a large number of tourists were only separated from Buckingham Palace by a wall, they would hardly affect the normal activities in the palace.
At every gate, entrance, and passageway, there were royal guards in red coats and bearskin hats. These people did not seem to have any combat power, but in fact, they were the elite troops of the British Army, responsible for the security of the entire Buckingham Palace.
After the motorcade arrived at Buckingham Palace through a dedicated passage, a large number of staff, service personnel, and members of the royal family had been waiting for a long time, including William's father, Prince Charles.
The decorations were particularly grand. Not only was there a brand-new red carpet, but there was also a neat royal guard of honor. Even the royal orchestra was playing Scottish bagpipes. The sound was extremely pleasant.
As soon as the royal family's bulletproof Jaguar came to a stop, a British gentleman in his sixties came forward and opened the door on Li Mu's side. At the same time, the door on Prince William's side was also opened, and the two of them got out of the car at the same time.
There were no media reporters at the scene, only two royal cameramen shooting a few meters away from the car door. The sound of the shutter and the flashlight did not cause any trouble to Li Mu.
Prince Charles, who was in his fifties, immediately walked forward with a smile. He walked directly across the red carpet and came to Li Mu. He extended his hand to Li Mu and said enthusiastically, "Mr Lee, welcome to Buckingham Palace!"
William had come close at this time and said to Li Mu, "Mr Lee, this is my father, Charles."
Li Mu said politely, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Charles. Thank you and the other members of the royal family for the invitation. It's a great honor to be here as a guest."
Charles said, "We very much hope that Mr Lee can stay at Buckingham Palace and let William accompany you to visit Buckingham Palace and the famous attractions in London. However, I heard from William that you have a very busy schedule. This is really a pity."
Li Mu smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I hope I can make up for this regret the next time I come to England."
Charles nodded and said with a smile, "That's for sure. Whenever Mr Lee comes to England, we will sincerely welcome you to Buckingham Palace."
Li Mu thanked him, and Charles introduced him to the other members of the royal family present. There were a total of 17 members of the royal family who came to the palace to welcome Li Mu. It could be seen that the entire royal family attached great importance to Li Mu's arrival.
After shaking hands with everyone, Li Mu, under the invitation of Charles, walked into the main hall of Buckingham Palace with him, William, and other members of the royal family.
Davidson of the Goldberg family did not receive such treatment. Because he was not invited, the royal family arranged for him and his motorcade to rest in one of the attached palaces. Although a sumptuous lunch was also prepared for them, the members of the British royal family did not have the energy to entertain them.
Charles told Li Mu that the elderly Queen was waiting in the reception room at this time. He also said that the Queen had been looking forward to meeting Li Mu and was full of praise for Li Mu.
When he arrived at the reception room, Li Mu immediately saw the Queen who came out to greet him. The Queen's face was very familiar to Li Mu. When he was a child, he often saw the face of the Queen of England when he watched Hong Kong movies. When he grew up, the Queen often appeared in the news. Moreover, she had been on the throne for a very long time. That alone made her famous all over the world.
The Queen was almost eighty years old this year, but she looked exceptionally energetic. She was wearing a lavender gown and an elegant and fashionable top hat of the same color. There were two white flowers on the top hat. In addition, the Queen was also wearing very exquisite accessories. Her pearl earrings, necklace, and brooch were all very exquisite.
This old woman could be regarded as one of the most fashionable old ladies in the world. Her dress was almost a textbook example of European aristocracy.
When she saw Li Mu, the Queen smiled kindly. She did not look like a monarch at all. After shaking hands with Li Mu, she sighed and said, "I have been looking forward to meeting Mr. Li. Today, my wish has finally come true. In my eyes, Mr. Li can be said to be the most outstanding young man in the world. It is my honor to be able to meet you here."
How could Li Mu accept the Queen's "honor"? He hurriedly said humbly, "Your Majesty, it is my honor to be summoned by you. Besides, I am just an ordinary businessman, not the most outstanding young man."
The Queen looked at Li Mu and said with a smile, "The highest expectation I have for my grandchildren is less than one-tenth of Mr. Li's achievements today. Take William, for example. He is my eldest grandson, and I have the highest expectations for him. But my expectation for him is nothing more than that he can successfully complete his studies. I hope that he can have more talent, insight, and ability than most people. I hope that he can not bring shame to the British royal family and the Windsor family in the future. Compared with Mr. Li's achievements today, my expectations for him are still too far away."
Li Mu hurriedly said, "I have spent a few days with William in the Goldberg family. To be honest, William is a very outstanding young man. I think his ability, talent, and charisma are better than mine. It's just that the two of us have chosen different directions. I choose to devote my energy to the Internet field, while William hopes to become a qualified heir of the royal family. As Hua Xia said, both of us specialize in different fields."
The Queen did not expect Li Mu to be so modest and give such a big affirmation to William. Her face was full of happy smiles. She held his hand like a grandmother, and then held William's hand. She sighed and said, "You two are about the same age, and it is rare for you to have such a congenial conversation. I believe that you will also become very good friends in the future."
At this point, the Queen looked at Li Mu and said with a serious face, "Mr. Lee, William has a very strong sense of patriotism. Since he was a child, he has hoped to be able to make a contribution to this family, to this royal family, to this country, and even to this world. However, I have always felt that sometimes his eyes are too focused, which will cause him to lack breadth of vision and a lack of overall vision."
William, who was at the side, did not look embarrassed at all when his grandmother said that. He said jokingly, "Your Majesty, you can't use Mr. Lee's achievements to ask of me. As you said, the gap between me and him is too big."
The Queen said with a smile, "I am not using Mr. Lee's achievements to ask of you. Achievements require many conditions and factors, not only your internal conditions, but also many external conditions, such as the direction you choose, external opportunities, the development and changes of the current situation, and even a lot of luck. However, I think you should learn from Mr. Lee's vision and his way of looking at problems."
As she said that, the Queen looked at Li Mu and said with a smile, "William told me some time ago that he hoped to join the Royal Air Force and serve the country. I think this is a good direction, but it may not be a smart direction. For so many years, when the members of the royal family think of contributing to the country, the first thing they think of is to join the army.
"Even when I was young, when the Germans bombed London, I volunteered to go to the front line to operate the searchlight. My two sons have both joined the army. My eldest son joined the Royal Navy, and my second son joined the Royal Air Force. William and his younger brother also want to join the army.
"Although I don't want to discourage their enthusiasm to join the army, I always can't help but ask myself, is joining the army the only way for all the men in the Windsor family to contribute to the country? If it is, it proves that our way of thinking is too fixed, and we lack the sense of innovation. Most importantly, we lack the overall situation. As a soldier, we can only contribute a little to the country as an individual. However, if we can achieve a career, we can contribute more to the country with greater ability. If a person wants to contribute to the country, the best way is not to contribute as much as he can, but to find a way to improve himself. First, he should accumulate powerful strength, and then he can continuously provide help to the country's construction and development. Unfortunately, William doesn't have this concept now … "
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