sentences:  That continued until 1 July 1997, when the largest remaining colony, Hong Kong, was handed over to the People’s Republic of China, designated as a Special Administrative Region.Thereafter the relatively few posts in the small remaining colonies (now British Overseas Territories) were filled by ad hoc British government appointments and overseen by two Ministers of the British government.The formal end of HMOCS in 1997 was marked by a special commemorative service held in Westminster Abbey on 25 May 1999, attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.