What we know about the lavish banquet being held at Windsor Castle in honour of Donald Trump

With traditions that date back hundreds of years, and a small army of chefs and waiters - the royal banquet is an opulent event. ITV News reporter Sangita Lal takes a look at how the menu is made

The royal household is busy carrying out final preparations for the royal state banquet to be held this evening in honour of Donald Trump.

Royal hospitality at its most meticulous and lavish will be deployed in honour of the controversial US president and First Lady Melania Trump as they join some 160 guests in the impressive St George’s Hall for the extravagant feast.

Every element of the banquet is checked and approved by the King, down to the very last detail.

The details of what will be on the menu won't be released until closer to the time of the actual meal, but we still know quite a lot about what will be happening this evening.

How is Windsor Castle preparing?

State banquets are seen as the premier moment of any state visit, with the monarch and the visiting head of state sitting next to each other as dignitaries from both nations are treated to some of the finest cuisine the UK can offer.

The meal will be held in Windsor Castle's St George's Hall - it is the largest room in the castle at 55.5 metres long (180ft) and nine metres wide (29.5ft), and the 50 metre (164ft) table stretches its full length.

The hall’s gothic style ceiling with impressive oak beam roof is studded with the coats of arms of every single Knight of the Garter since the order was founded in 1348, although most of it is from after 1992 following a devastating fire.

Preparations for a state banquet start six months before the big event, with much of the food eaten being grown in advance on the Royal Estate.

All the military parades, speeches and performances will have been practised countless times to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

A sign of the meticulous nature of how carefully everything is planned is the fact that royal staff are given three whole days to lay the table for the banquet.

The mahogany table was constructed over several days last week.

Tablecloths and napkins – folded in the shape of a Dutch bonnet – cruet sets, elaborate floral decorations, priceless plates, candelabra and six glasses – for water, a champagne toast, red and white wines, a dessert wine and port – will all have carefully been put in order.

Every place setting must be precisely 18 inches apart – with measuring sticks used to ensure absolute precision.

The footmen and women must make sure every chair is exactly the same distance from the table and each glass is the same distance from the front edge of the table.

Seasonal flowers handpicked from the gardens at Windsor Castle and Windsor Great Park will be on show arranged in elaborate displays along the table in silver-gilt centre pieces.

After the banquet, the flowers are usually donated to Floral Angels, a charity of which Camilla is patron, which delivers the blooms to hospices, elderly care homes and shelters.

Some 19 stations are set up around the edge of the room, each manned by four staff – a page, footman, under butler and a wine butler – who use a traffic light system to coordinate the serving of courses.

Detailed diagrams are used to illustrate the serving plans and a list of special instructions sets out any dietary requirements and requests for royals and other guests.

Staff must also put in place a special cushion on the King’s seat to ease his long-standing back issues.

Charles and the Queen usually inspect the table beforehand in person, making their way round the room in the afternoon and examining the preparations with the Master of the Household, Vice-Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt.

What will they be eating and drinking?

We don't know the menu yet, but we can make a few guesses.

In a tradition started by the King, a bespoke cocktail will be created specially for the occasion, no doubt celebrating the “special relationship” between the UK and the US.

For French President Emmanuel Macron’s state dinner, the drink was named L’entente in a nod to the L’Entente Cordiale - the name given to the alliance signed between the UK and France prior to the First World War.

It combined British gin with lemon curd and French pastis and was garnished with dried French cornflowers and English roses.

The Japanese state visit last year was honoured with a yuzu marmalade sour, featuring whisky and marmalade and resembling the flag of Japan.

No hints of what has been prepared for Trump have been revealed, although if it is alcoholic, the president himself will not drink it as he is teetotal.

Guests – who have been invited on the basis of their cultural, diplomatic or economic links to the US – will dine on an exquisite menu, written in French, prepared by royal chefs and served on historic, priceless dinner sets.

Royal chef Mark Flanagan and his team of 20 chefs will serve seasonal produce, sourced from royal estates.

Charles and Camilla will have selected the final menu, which will be expected to include a nod to the US, from a series of four alternatives.

Who will be attending and where will they be seated?

Former US president Barack Obama’s state banquet in 2011 was sprinkled with Hollywood stardust, with a guest list including actor Tom Hanks, actress Helena Bonham Carter and director Tim Burton.

But the dinner for Mr Trump’s last state visit in 2019 was more trade and business rather than showbusiness and it will be the same this time round.

With 160 guests expected to attend, notable industry leaders from US technology and finance companies are expected to attend.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Larry Fink, chairman of BlackRock are all on the guest list.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be present and is expected to put on his white tie and tails.

But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is boycotting the banquet in a protest against Mr Trump’s position on Gaza.

Eluned Morgan, the Labour First Minister of Wales, has also rejected an invitation, saying she wished to remain in Wales to support her colleagues after the unexpected death of Senedd member Hefin David in August.

The King and Queen will head members of the royal family, with the Prince of Wales expected to attend, and the Princess of Wales likely, but not yet confirmed, to join him, along with other Windsors.

The monarch will be seated next to Mr Trump in the middle of one side of the table, with Mrs Trump and Camilla opposite them on the other side.

At Mr Macron’s banquet, Kate was seated next to the president at his right hand side, while William was opposite, next to France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron.

Other royals will be spread around the table between the guests.

Which royals will be missing from the banquet?

The attending royals have yet to be announced, but at the last state banquet for Mr Trump, there were 16 family members.

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The Duke of Kent is grieving his wife, the Duchess of Kent, whose funeral is taking place on Tuesday, and Princess Alexandra is now frail and has not attended banquets for several years.

The disgraced Duke of York, who attended last time but since then was forced to step down from the working monarchy over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, will also be absent.

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