Hope and history rhyme as heads of State dine at Windsor

Haunted by more than 900 years of often bloody history, Windsor Castle was a fitting place to try and lay to rest the ghosts of a troubled past.

The full majestic splendour of the British monarchy in its most eye-catching pomp and dazzle was deployed to impress upon the President the desire for times changed.

However, Queen Elizabeth’s pledge to “stand alongside” the Irish Government as it marks the uprising of 1916 and the War of Independence which followed, still left President Higgins looking visibly taken aback by the strength of her words.