The last British governor of Hong Kong, Lord Chris Patten, reflects on the handover of the territory to China which took place ten years ago on July 1, 1997.

Ten years ago this weekend, Chris Patten’s job as governor of Hong Kong came to an end - and with it 150 years of British rule.

Amid a tropical downpour, Mr Patten, along with the Prince of Wales, new Prime Minister Tony Blair and other dignitaries, saw the British flag lowered in the territory for the last time on 30 June 1997.

It was an emotional moment, says the former governor who was made a Lord in 2004. Both he and his family had come to love Hong Kong during their five years there. He still calls it the best job he ever had.

Lord Patten had insisted upon a ceremony of some pomp, rather than a more functional handover in the city hall that had initially been favoured by the Chinese.

“I felt there should be a proper farewell in order to demonstrate to the world that Hong Kong, a free city, was seeing transfer of its sovereignty to an authoritarian government,” he said.

One of the other interesting aspects of the interview is Lord Patten’s humorous explanation about how he came to be appointed governor in the first place.

Lord Patten jokes that the last governor of Hong Kong was “slightly improbably” chosen by the citizens of Bath - who voted him out as their MP in the 1992 general election.

The humor aside, I think it is a typical example of the sort of interconnectedness present through the history of the British Empire. Although the links between different parts of the world certainly remain, it now seems all the more improbable that a British constituency could “cause” a certain person to be a ruler of a place more than half way around the world.

I was also fascinated by the description of Lord Patten’s relationship with the people of Hong Kong which also seems to reflect some of the sentiments present in other times and places of the British Empire.

As for Hong Kong, the man who was affectionately known as “Fatty Pang” (Pang being the Chinese transliteration of Patten) says he has returned several times in the past 10 years and gets a reception “rather like an ageing rock star”.

The complete story from BBC News: “Last British governor of Hong Kong”