THERE WILL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND

 So, England/ The UK owned Ireland for a good 800 years with them only becoming their own country  either in 1916 or '48, who can say.... BUT, this was the first time every that the President of Ireland has every been to an official STATE DINNER in London. ( yall know how much I love a good state dinner )

 Her Majesty broke out the family emeralds for the event

This table and setting just blew me away, so very different than we do it here in the US. Not that we have a room or table like this. Built in 1846 for a young Victoria - it is 175 ft long, and has 68 leaves.

" Men in white aprons polish a 175ft-long dining table to a mirror shine with a sort of padded croquet mallet while standing on it in their socks.

The yeoman of the silver pantry must unpack the 4,000-piece 'grand service' from its tempera- ture-controlled slumber, dismantle it into its 8,000 precious components, handwash, dry and polish every last marrow scoop and olive spoon, and put it all back together again.

It takes his team of eight servants three weeks to get everything right. The 'grand service' was originally made for George IV while he was Prince of Wales and Prince Regent.

It was first used in 1811 to celebrate the 73rd birthday of his father, George III. Today the 'grand service' forms the core of the royal silver and encompasses the best examples of 19th-century design, drawing on Egyptian, Greek, Roman and medieval sources.

The Queen's dining plate is dominated by the monumental Mercury and Bacchus and Apples of the Hesperides candelabra, which stand over a metre tall and were made by master goldsmith Paul Storr and designed by sculptor John Flaxman.

It takes two days to lay the table for dinner, demanding the precision of a petit-point embroiderer to place 1,200 glasses – six for each guest – and 2,000 pieces of silver-gilt cutlery to within a millimetre's exactness."

The Menu

Starter
Halibut with baby leeks in a fine herb sauce

Main Course
Tournedos of Windsor Estate beef with wild mushrooms  and watercress purée
Purple sprouting broccoli in hollandaise sauce
Onions stuffed with parmesan and bulgur wheat
Savoyarde potatoes and salad

Dessert
Vanilla ice-cream bombe with Windsor redcurrant centre and fruit plate

Wines
Ridgeview Cuvée Merret Grosvenor 2009
Meursault 1er Cru Perrières 2005, Chanson Père et Fils
Château Léoville-Barton 1990, 2ème Cru Classé, St Julien
Louis Roederer Carte Blanche NV
Quinto do Noval Vintage Port 1966

LOADS MORE PICS HERE AND HERE - enjoy the pretty