Kate Middleton deploys diplomatic trick as she and William kick off Nigeria state visit

The Princess of Wales deployed her diplomatic dressing skills as she and Prince William officially welcomed the President and First Lady of Nigeria for their state visit to the UK. Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, are on a three-day visit to the UK, where later tonight they will be honoured at a state banquet at Windsor Castle held by the King.

But William and Kate carried out the first duty of the day, greeting the president and his wife at the luxury spa hotel Fairmont Windsor Park, on the edge of Windsor Great Park, before escorting them to the town centre to formally meet the King and Queen.

The princess wore grey coat dress by young British-Nigerian fashioner designer Tolu Coker. The King made a surprise appearance in the front row of the designer’s London Fashion Week show last month.

Later the King, the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and Mr and Mrs Tinubu will then travel in a carriage procession in a show of traditional pomp and pageantry through Windsor to the castle’s quadrangle to see the Guard of Honour for the ceremonial welcome.

The King and Queen will then invite their guests to view a special exhibition of items relating to Nigeria from the Royal Collection, in the Green Drawing Room.

Afterwards, the King will receive the President for an audience at Windsor Castle and later the Nigerian guests will privately visit St George’s Chapel, Windsor, to lay a wreath of flowers on the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth II. Tonight a huge state banquet will be held at Windsor Castle.

Thames Valley Police said extensive security measures are being deployed in Windsor, as the event takes place against an international backdrop of the deepening Middle East crisis.

The president and the first lady arrived in the UK yesterday on a Nigerian Air Force flight as scheduled, and were met at Stansted Airport by the deputy lieutenant of Essex, Mark Bevan, on behalf of the King.

Their visit went ahead despite suicide bombings in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno state on Monday, which killed 23 people and injured more than 100. Mr Tinubu condemned the “evil-minded” terror groups and said he mourned those who lost their lives, saying “Nigeria will not succumb to fear”.

The last Nigerian state visit to the UK was in 1989, when Queen Elizabeth II welcomed military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida to London. This time, the two-day visit falls at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, during which many Muslims fast and refrain from eating or drinking between dawn and sunset – so there will be no traditional lunch with the King in the castle for the president during the day.

The programme has been specially adapted for Muslim Mr Tinubu, and Charles will receive the president during an audience in the afternoon instead of hosting the usual welcome lunch.

Mr Tinubu will break his fast privately at sunset today before joining the King and Queen for the night-time state banquet. The first lady, who is known as Remi, is a Christian and an ordained Pentecostal pastor. Eid-al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, begins tomorrow evening, when the president and his wife will leave the UK.

The Nigerian leader’s stay, aimed at strengthening the UK’s position as a global hub for African business, coincides with the Department for Business and Trade’s announcement that hundreds of new jobs are to be created as a series of Nigerian companies scale up their operations in the UK.

The grand royal occasion also comes less than a month after the King’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on suspicion of sharing confidential reports with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, amid the ongoing scandal facing the monarchy.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk