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.

Highlighting the shared loss of the First World War, the Queen used the key note address of the lavish state banquet to announce: “My family, and my government, will stand alongside you, Mr President, and your ministers, throughout the anniversaries of the war and of the events that led to the creation of the Free State.”

Referring to Mr Higgins as the “Head of State of Ireland”, the Queen acknowledge the discrimination felt by Irish immigrants to Britain in previous generations, before adding: “We will remember our past, but we shall no longer allow our past to ensnare us.”

The delicate diplomatic balancing act which has accented the whole trip was to the fore at the centrepiece state banquet for a 160 guests which saw former IRA commander Martin McGuinness seated 15 places down the table from Prince Philip.

Speaking briefly in Irish, Mr Higgins told the Queen that Britain and Ireland live in the “shadow and shelter of one another”.

The President then went on to address the darker side of the past relationship, saying: “We must never forget those who died, were bereaved or injured during a tragic conflict.

“To be forgotten is to die twice.

“We owe a duty to all those who lost their lives, the duty to build together in peace. The shadow of the past has become the shelter of the present.”

That sentiment was echoed in the President’s earlier speech to both houses of the British parliament when he received a standing ovation after saying the two nations no longer “look at each other with doubtful eyes”, but have allowed warmth to replace enmity.

The banquet guests, including Brian O’Driscoll, Terry Wogan, Daniel Day Lewis, and Judi Dench, feasted on halibut with leeks in a herb sauce, followed by tournedos of Windsor estate beef with wild mushrooms and watercress puree. Dessert was vanilla ice cream bombe with a Balmoral red currant centre.

Attention to detail was impressive as the microphones the Queen and President spoke into were delicately hidden in branches of the ornate flower display in front of them.

However, palace officials were at a loss to explain why only the seats reserved for Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were adorned with specially provided golden cushions with a fur trim.

Sabina Higgins’s dress was designed in St Patrick’s blue and decorated with crystal stone pieces intended to reflect the Connemara landscape for the occasion.

The first state visit of an Irish President to Britain began with a spectacular display of colour as 275 Irish-bred horses paraded past the Queen and Mr Higgins in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle along with more than 850 cavalrymen and soldiers, following a 21 gun salute and a rousing version of Amhrán na bhFiann being played within its imposing walls.

It ended with a British Queen’s reflection on “those who died in the cause of Irish freedom” and the rapidly transformed relationship between the two islands when she noted the passing of Seamus Heaney at a time when “hope and history jarred and then slowly began to rhyme”.