German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Budenbender are being honoured at a star-studded banquet in Windsor Castle tonight
King Charles is hosting the German president for a three-day visit(Image: PA)
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Budenbender are being honoured at a star-studded banquet in Windsor Castle tonight, as part of their three-day state visit to the UK.
And as is tradition with state banquets when hosting a foreign leaders, chefs have been handpicked to create a menu, written in French as is tradition, that reflects the country being hosted.
The full menu of what President Steinmeier and other guests in St George’s Hall will dine on has been revealed. The guests will begin with a starter of an open tartlet of hot smoked trout with langoustines, quail eggs and shellfish sauce.
The state banquet menu on display in St George’s Hall(Image: PA)
The main dish consists of Windsor Partridge Supreme wrapped in puff pastry with confit cabbage and Port sauce. Accompanying the delectable dish is crushed carrots with swede and a selection of winter vegetables.
For dessert, guests will be treated to Baked Alaska with blackberry, vanilla and raspberry ice creams, before finishing with coffee and Petit Fours. In a new tradition, a special cocktail has also been created for the occasion with the flavours of a Black Forest gateau. The Château La Fleur-Pétrus, Pomerol, 1995 wine will also be served, marking the year of the President and First Lady’s wedding.
Tonight’s menu shows a stark change from the meal served for US president Donald Trump during the US state visit in September. Trump and guests were treated to a Hampshire watercress panna Cotta with parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad as a starter, before the main course of organic Norfolk chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes, with a thyme and savoury infused jus.
The Prince and Princess of Wales with Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Buedenbender(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Dessert for the US leader was a vanilla ice cream bombe with Kentish raspberry sorbet interior with lightly poached Victoria plums, with a host of handpicked wines to accompany each dish.
The German state visit kicked off this morning when the Prince and Princess of Wales greeted the German president and First Lady as they arrived at Heathrow airport. After being formally introduced to the VIP hosts, The President of Germany and the First Lady were driven in a ceremonial carriage procession through the streets of Windsor with The King and Queen.
The streets were guarded by ceremonial troops from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force. The route was decorated with German and British Union Flags and crowds lined the streets as the procession made its way to Windsor Castle.
The magnificent procession ended in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle, where The President inspected the troops in the Quadrangle accompanied by His Majesty The King as the band played ‘Marsch des Yorck’schen Korps’ by Beethoven.
The state visit will be the first time a German president has been hosted on a state visit in 27 years, and only the fifth state visit from Germany since 1958. The trip will also mark the third inward state visit for King Charles this year, after welcoming French president Emmanuel Macron in July and US President Donald Trump in September.
