Impressive jewels, black and white diamonds, and other lavish objects sold near Buckingham Palace surely passed through the hands of Queen Elizabeth II, but she had never received such a curious gift as the one given to her by former President Sebastián Piñera in October 2010.
While visiting Europe, the then President presented the monarch with a piece of rock extracted from the San José mine, as a symbol of the effort that the successful rescue of the 33 trapped miners meant.
The highest authority in the country arrived at the Palace accompanied by his wife, Cecilia Morel, where he detailed the details of the rescue of the miners
“Before meeting with Queen Elizabeth, Piñera chatted a lot with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to whom he also gave one of the stones extracted in the pit of the tragedy,” La Cuarta reported at the time.
Giving account of the historical moment, the pop newspaper detailed that “the funniest thing was when the phlegmatic English politician returned his hand and gave the President 33 traditional beers of the ‘ale’ type and an old edition of the work of Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe ”.
Pinera’s pride
“It makes us feel very happy and proud to be Chileans, because this is an affection and a welcome to all of Chile and all Chileans,” said Piñera.
“We talked regarding the rescue of the miners that moved and moved all the English. David told me that he followed him live practically all night with his wife, “he added.
