Advertisement

Melania, Kate and Camilla co-ordinate at state banquet with the Queen

Melania Trump at the State Banquet with husband Donald Trump and the Queen
Melania Trump wore a Dior gown with elegant elbow-high gloves. Photo: Getty

The Queen has sat down for dinner with the Trumps, welcoming the President and First Lady Melania to the UK with a formal state banquet.

Melania, Her Majesty, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge, all colour co-ordinated for the elegant evening affair, and dressed in all white.

Looking very stately, Melania opted for a simple Dior gown teamed with elbow-length gloves and was joined by Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and his wife Lara, and Tiffany Trump.

There were also 16 members of the royal family present among the 170 guests in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom.

Alongside those in direct line to the throne were the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

Melania Trump enters state banquet at buckingham palace with Prince Charles
Melania walked in alongside Prince Charles, followed by his wife Camilla, and Prince William with Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo: Getty
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, walking into State Banquet with the Trumps and the Queen
Kate wore a beautiful Alexander McQueen gown and Princess Diana's favourite tiara. Photo: Getty

Kate’s tribute to Diana

Kate, 37, was dressed in a white ruffled gown by her go-to fashion designer Alexander McQueen, and she completed her look with one of her late mother-in-law’s favourite pieces of jewellery, the Lover’s Knot diamond and pearl tiara.

The tiara is sometimes referred to as the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, but it is actually a replica of it, which was commissioned by Queen Mary in 1914 and made by Garrard.

Princess Diana was given the tiara as a wedding gift from the Queen in 1981 and Kate first wore the headpiece in December 2015 for the Diplomatic Reception.

What they ate

The Queen’s royal chefs were put to work for the white-tie dinner, with each dish handmade as close to the event as possible, making them as fresh as possible.

Guests started the meal with a steamed fillet of halibut with watercress mousse, asparagus spears and chervil sauce.

This was followed by saddle of new season Windsor lamb, with herb stuffing, spring vegetables and port sauce, and it was all topped off with a dessert of strawberry sable with lemon verbena cream – made of crisp biscuits, smooth pastry cream and fresh strawberries.

Royal protocol dictates that guests must not start eating until after the Queen has started and that they are supposed to stop once she finishes.

The Queen and US President Donald Trump at dinner together
The President and the Queen seemed to be enjoying each other's company. Photo: Getty
Ivanka Trump arriving at State Banquet at Buckingham Palace
First Daughter Ivanka Trump did not get the white memo. Photo: Getty

Trump’s faux pas with the royals

The President and First Lady were welcomed to the palace by Charles and Camilla in a break of royal protocol. Usually, it is the Queen who greets state guests first, as she and the Duke of Edinburgh did for the Obamas, and this change of pace has been widely considered as another way the Monarch is handing over responsibilities to her heir.

The Trumps enjoyed tea with the Cornwalls, and also met with Prince Harry following the President’s ‘nasty’ comments about Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry talking to Ivanka Trump during UK State Visit
Prince Harry met with President Trump and First Daughter Ivanka earlier in the day. Photo: Getty

Of course, that wasn’t the first time the President has made inappropriate comments about the royals, and when Kate was photographed sunbathing topless on her private property, he suggested that she was the one to blame.

“Who wouldn’t take Kate’s picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!” he tweeted at the time.

Following Princess Diana’s death in 1997, Trump also made inappropriate comments about her during an interview with Howard Stern.

He was asked, “Why do people think it’s egotistical of you to say you could’ve gotten Lady Di? You could’ve gotten her, right? You could’ve nailed her.”

“I think I could have. She was actually really beautiful. I thought she was supermodel beautiful,” the President replied.

The Trumps are on a three-day state visit, and although President Trump has visited the UK since taking office, this is the first of an official nature.

Fist bumping the Queen

Much has been made of the way President Trump greeted the Queen. While he’s known for his awkward handshakes, this one looked more like a fist bump.

Body language expert Judi James told The Express, “Trump’s greeting ritual with the Queen could have looked awkward and a still from it could make the gesture look dangerously like a fist-bump”.

“But as Trump approached he shook from a respectful distance and if the Queen performed her signature ‘fingers only’ handshake he seemed to have curled his own fingers in, leaving his hand looking as though it was forming a fist-like shape.”

Inside view of the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace
The Ballroom in Buckingham Palace was set up to greet the Trumps. Photo: Getty

Breaking protocol

In another break of protocol, Trump reached over and put his hand on the Queen’s back while she was delivering a speech at the banquet dinner.

While it seems like an innocent-enough gesture, touching the Queen in any way other than a handshake is considered a serious ‘no’.

Michelle Obama was criticised for hugging the Queen when she was First Lady, while LeBron James was famously shamed for putting his arm around Kate Middleton in the US.

The official statement on the royals’ website states “there are no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting The Queen or a member of the Royal Family” but there are a series of protocols for those who “wish to observe the traditional forms”.

These traditional forms also include bowing or curtseying to the Monarch, which the Trumps also did not do.

President Donald Trump touching the Queen at State Dinner
President Trump touched the Queen in a breach of protocol. Photo: Sky

Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com

Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Or sign up to our daily newsletter here.