The White House Press Pool reports on all the details of the state dinner with the Queen.
Pool is NOT in the dinner. There is a TV feed beginning with the royal procession and continuing through remarks by the queen and the president. You should see that feed now. Pool was taken to the banquet room for about 15 mins to have a look. Details were embargoed until the start of the broadcast and are below, courtesy of a team effort with poolers Emily Goodin and Mike Bender:
– 171 total participants including the queen.
-all adult Trump children included
– the State Banquet is in the “ballroom.”
-The table was a horseshoe with seating on both sides.
-dinnerware settings for later courses are blue and white china with floral designs.
– 6 glasses at each spot and the palace says that more than 1k are used in all
-Napkins folded in a sort of knot called a Dutch bonnet, by “the Yeoman of the China and Glass Pantries,” according to a handout from the palace.
– each guest is allowed 18 inches for their place setting, per the same handout
– we were told it takes four days to set the table.
– Along the table were gold receptacles decorated with mermaids, which held mustard and salt. Pepper is a separate shaker.
-gold candelabras
-gold plates on the wall
-huge pipe organ at one end of the room and two thrones (really) at the end behind Trump and the queen.
– Bowls of fruit on the table when we entered:
Pineapples, peaches, apples and cherries.
– Flowers are a mix of peonies and roses in shades of pink and touches of larkspur and sweet pea in 23 mostly enormous floral arrangements.
The head end of the table seating chart is as follows, left to right if you were standing in the middle of the horseshoe:
Duke of Cambridge
The Prime Minister
Amb. Johnson
The Duchess of Cornwall
The President of the United States of America
Queen Elizabeth II (whose place has no placard, per custom)
The Prince of Wales
Mrs. Trump
The Lord Speaker
The Rt Hon Baroness Hale of Richmond
Rt. Hon Lord Mayor of London (note this is NOT Sadiq Khan. His name is Peter Estlin.)
Then at the side closer to Mrs. Trump is Duchess of Cambridge
Sec. Mnuchin
Some seating pairings of note:
Ivanka Trump was seated between the Liam Fox, the U.K. secretary of state for international trade, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Tiffany Trump was seated between HSBC chairman Mark Tucker and Edward Young, the queen’s private secretary. Eric Trump was seated between Dame Vivian Hunt and Janet Tucker. Laura Trump was seated between Lord Hague of Richmond and Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden
Kellyanne Conway was seated between Prince Edward and Alex Younger, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service. Mick Mulvaney was seated between the Secretary of State for Defense Penny Mordaunt and Prince Andrew. Steve Mnuchin was between Philip Hammond, Chancellor of Exchequer and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Louise Linton was seated between Jon Stanton, chief executive of The Weir Group. and General Sir Nicholas Carter. Emma Doyle was seated next to Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester
Duchess of Gloucester
Others of note, with apologies for duplications:
Eric Trump
Donald Trump Jr. (next to Lady Bamford)
Lara Trump
Jared Kushner (next to Princess Anne and Mark Carney. A governor of the Bank of England)
Tiffany Trump
Ivanka Trump (next to Sophie the countess of Wessex)
Kellyanne Conway
John Bolton (next to British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on one side and the Earl of Wessex on the other)
Dan Scavino
Stephanie Grisham
Sarah Sanders
Steven Miller
Mick Mulvaney
Louise Linton
Chris Ruddy
Sir Kim Darroch, British ambassador, and Lady Darroch
The British defense and foreign ministers
Menu:
Steamed fillet of halibut with watercress mousse, asparagus spears and chervil sauce.
– Saddle of new season Windsor lamb with herb stuffing, spring vegetables, port sauce.
– Strawberry sable with lemon verbena cream.
– Selection of assorted fresh fruits.
– Coffee and petit fours.
Wine:
Windsor Great Park 2014
Chassange-Montrachet 1er Cru “Morgeot” 2014
Domaine Duc de Magenta
Monopole Clos de la Chapelle, Louis Jadot
Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1990
1er Cru Classe, Pauillac
Hambledon Classic Cuvee Rose NV
Music:
Includes Handel, “Music for the Royal Fireworks”
Ballet “”Hoedown” from “Rodeo” by Aaron Copland.
“Tonight” from West Side Story
“Thinking Out Loud” written by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge