Inside the dazzling State Banquet
The details you may have missed from this week's spectacular event
How do you know whether a state banqueting table really is fit for a King?
You get the King to check it himself, of course.
When it came to entertaining South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee and their entourage this week, nothing was left to chance.
So after a busy morning delivering a ceremonial welcome at Horse Guards Parade, hosting their guests for a private lunch and showing them a display of items from the Royal Collection, the King and Queen popped into the Buckingham Palace ballroom to check that everything was on point for an evening of unrivalled hospitality.
After watching events unfold on the parade ground and inside the Picture Gallery at the Palace, I got the chance to preview the tables not long after their Majesties, so I wanted to share with you some of the extraordinary behind-the-scenes detail that goes into these events.
It’s fair to say that when it comes to impressing visiting dignitaries, Britain can really lean into centuries of tradition and continuity to deliver a welcome that cannot be matched anywhere else.