McGuinness-Queen meeting to be filmed

Today's historic meeting between Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness will be recorded for posterity, Buckingham Palace confirmed today.

The initial handshake between the Queen and the former IRA commander will remain private but farewells between the two individuals – when another handshake is expected – will be filmed and photographed.

Peter Sheridan, chief executive of the peace charity Co-operation Ireland which will host the meeting at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, said the event will be hugely significant.

Mr McGuinness, Stormont deputy First Minister, has described the upcoming greeting as a symbolic gesture of “stretching out the hand of peace and reconciliation to Queen Elizabeth who represents hundreds of thousands of unionists in the north”.

The Queen last year broke down barriers on both sides of the Irish border through her conciliatory words and gestures during her visit to the Republic.