‘If people are kind to you and make you feel at home I don’t think the outward and visible signs matter. It is what goes on inside that really matters. But sometimes it’s worth explaining that we put it on specially. That we don’t actually live like this all the time!’

The Queen is a perfectionist and as the perfect hostess wants to make her guests feel at ease. When President Lech Walesa of Poland visited Windsor Castle in April 1991 with his wife Danuta, the Queen noticed he was overwhelmed by the grandeur and ordered the furniture to be moved around in the six-roomed principal suite where they were staying and to make it more cosy.

If visitors are staying in London, they are led to the Belgium Suite, where they will be housed for the three-day stay at the palace. All their unpacking has already been done for them and they have half an hour’s free time to freshen up before the state lunch. In the meantime, as many royals as the Queen can muster, plus most of her household, will wait in the 1844 Room to greet the guests. Prince Philip would go personally to the Belgium Suite to collect the visiting president and his lady and then lead them to the pre-lunch drinks gathering. He used to bound down the stairs two at a time, but these days his pace is just a little more sedate. Luncheon is served in the Bow Room, which for these occasions is turned into a dining room.

The Queen leads her guests, walking ahead with the visiting president, King or Queen on her right. There are usually sixty seated for lunch, as all the visitors’ entourage will be invited. In the case of some less stable countries, this can be a lot of people, as some leaders feel it is safer that way – just in case someone tries to carry out a coup back home while their backs are turned.

Everyone is placed at round tables – six of them, ten people to a table – each of which is hosted by a member of the royal family. Language can be a problem if the guests don’t speak English, but the royals can get by in French, which they all speak well, and there are always interpreters on hand for the Queen and the family if French won’t do. Everyone else, including the household, has to muddle along as best they can. An awful lot of smiling goes on in lieu of conversations.