By Sean Coughlan
Copyright bbc
President Trump’s banquet in Windsor Castle is conspicuously missing celebrity faces or screen stars. Were there people in Hollywood, or even west London, who suddenly found they had to be somewhere else tonight?
There’s not even a hardy royal perennial like Sir David Beckham or Sir Elton John.
Instead the guest list is heavy on political operators and tech bros. Apple boss Tim Cook is there, sitting next to the president’s daughter, Tiffany Trump.
Press baron Rupert Murdoch is sitting next to Sir Keir Starmer’s key adviser Morgan McSweeney. The small talk must be interesting when Trump is suing the Murdoch press for billions in the US.
Like at a wedding, guests must be checking the nameplates around the ornately-decorated table to see who they’re sitting beside.
The “head” of the table is in the middle for the Windsor state banquet, with the King and president in the centre of a dining table that is 47m long.
President Trump, as the guest of honour, is placed between King Charles and Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
The nameplate for Trump says “President of the United States of America”, although in capital letters, oddly reminiscent of his social media messages.
Facing them is the first lady, whose nameplate says “Mrs Trump”, with Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales on either side of her.
The seating arrangement throws some interesting groupings. There’s the US ambassador Warren Stephens flanked by Princess Anne on one side and Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the other.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is beside Stephen Schwarzman mega-wealthy CEO of the Blackstone investment group. If Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is searching for ideas, she’s sitting next to Sam Altman, chief executive of the artificial intelligence firm, OpenAI.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is there and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Among UK politicians Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy are there.
Golfer Nick Faldo and athlete Dame Kathleen Grainger are among the more prominent sports stars at the banquet.
Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia was one of the tech contingent.
On the walls are royal portraits and suits of armour and the ceiling is studded with the coats of arms of Knights of the Garter.
St George’s Hall was rebuilt after the fire of 1992. So perhaps like many stories about the royals, it feels new and old at the same time.
According to the travelling US press pack, the choice of music at the banquet reflects some of President Trump’s favourites. Maybe they have their own messages to the politicians listening.
It includes Nessun Dorma, meaning “none shall sleep” and You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
