London has rolled out the red carpet as King Charles hosts his first state visit since his accession to the British throne with the arrival of the South African president to Buckingham Palace.
Preparations have been months in the making after President Cyril Ramaphosa and First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe accepted an invitation to visit the King and Queen Consort from November 22 to 24.
The historic visit will be a first for the King, and no expense has been spared.
The BBC later reported Dr Motsepe was recovering from eye surgery and was advised not to travel to London.
Accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales, he was the centre of attention to toast his guests and make a speech at the lavish Buckingham Palace banquet on Tuesday night (local time).
The Daily Mail reported a lavish menu of stuffed Windsor pheasant and grilled brill with wild mushrooms.
Iced Vanilla Parfait with Caramelised Apples or coffee and bite-sized confectionery were the options for dessert.
“It’s pomp with a purpose against a backdrop of pageantry, photo ops and the jangle of a royal carriage ride,” observed the BBC.
The British Army allocated 1000 soldiers and 230 horses, and staff at the Royal Mews have been polishing carriages for a customary royal procession.
This will also be the first time a South African leader has visited the UK in more than a decade – the late Queen hosted now disgraced ex-president Jacob Zuma in 2010.
And the first since former president Donald Trump in 2019 (who famously didn’t understand royal protocols during an inspection of the guard), before COVID ground international relations to a stand-still.
Tweet from @RoyalFamily
‘They’re cracking good hosts’
Last week, many admirers and friends of the King and Queen Consort spoke to the quintessential UK lifestyle bible CountryLife, talking up his skills as a host.
He’s a great conversationalist, can cover a wide range of issues, and, as British-Australia actress and comedian Miriam Margolyes (Australia Unmasked) was quoted about the pair, they’re “cracking good hosts”.
State visits are always a massively busy schedule – according to the itinerary in Hello! Magazine, William and Kate took on the key role of greeting President Ramaphosa on behalf of the King at the five-star Corinthia Hotel after he touched down a day earlier on November 21.
The trip includes a ceremonial welcome at the Royal Pavilion by the King and Queen Consort, including a presentation, a royal salute and a rendition of the South African national anthem.
Then there’s a trip to Westminster Abbey including a visit to the memorial stone for Nelson Mandela, who was South Africa’s president from 1994-99, a private lunch at Buckingham Palace hosted by the King and a parliamentary welcome address.
But it’s really all about the state banquet – the centrepiece of the 48-hour presidential visit.
On the invite list are serving members of the royal family, and about 150 guests invited “on the basis of their cultural, diplomatic or economic links to the country being hosted”, according to the official royal.uk website.
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State banquets mean tiaras
In recent days, the London press went into overdrive about what tiaras the royals would wear for the first big bash since 2019.
As Tatler explained: “State banquets are a highlight in the calendar for any royal watcher as they are one of the rare occasions on which royal women wear tiaras”.
Out of the three tiaras Kate has worn in public, London’s Express newspaper reported fans were desperate to see her wear her wedding tiara from 2011, which was the Cartier Halo Tiara, loved by other royals such as Princess Margaret during her lifetime.
With 739-brilliant cut diamonds and 149 baguette diamonds, the tiara was commissioned by George VI in 1936 for his wife the late Queen Mother.
It was later given to the late Queen to mark her 18th birthday.
So what’s on the menu?
The official Royal Family Twitter account shared a video of kitchen staff preparing a vast array of dishes for the diplomatic talk-fest.
By all accounts, the menu is often prepared a year in advance, the horseshoe table takes five days to set, and is adorned with more than 4000 pieces of cutlery, candelabras and crockery.
When the Queen hosted Mr Trump, he got steamed halibut with watercress mousse, asparagus spears, and chervil sauce to start, a main of new season Windsor lamb (served with ‘Pommes Elizabeth’) and a port sauce, before finishing with a strawberry sable with lemon verbena cream.
This time the menu again showcased British cuisine with a nod to the national flower of South Africa, the protea, recreated out of sugar and edible colouring for part of the dessert.
Comments by the architect for The Duchy of Cornwall, Ben Pentreath, who has known the King since 1995, suggest the King’s hosting of his first state visit will be a resounding success.
“He has an overwhelming sense of energy, a relentless feeling of wanting to get things done, to exercise change for the better – an urgency that is always just one step away from frustration at the inertia of the world as he finds it.
“He hones into tiny details that others have overlooked.
“Every visit ends with the boss departing – doubtless to head off to another event or meeting – leaving the rest of us breathing a gentle sigh of exhaustion.”
