Britain and Argentina yesterday sought to heal the rift caused by the Falklands war with a series of gestures symbolising the two countries' hopes for a peaceful and prosperous future.
President Carlos Menem of Argentina laid a wreath in his country's national colours of blue and white at the foot of a memorial in St Paul's Cathedral honouring the 255 British dead from the conflict.
On the steps of the cathedral, Mr Menem and Prince Andrew, who flew Sea King helicopter sorties during the war, clasped hands in a public act of reconciliation.
Later, Mr Menem was welcomed to Buckingham Palace with his daughter, Zulema, as the band of the Welsh Guards, the regiment that lost 32 soldiers when their ship, Sir Galahad, was bombed at Bluff Cove, played Argentina's National Anthem.
In a speech last night, Mr Menem spoke of a new spirit of reconciliation between the two countries.
He told an audience of politicians, diplomats and businessmen at Lancaster House in London, that the Falklands conflict was "a war that should not have taken place . . . a war that today we all deeply regret".
But he stopped short of apologising for the Argentine invasion of the islands and said he retained a "firm conviction" of the legitimacy of his country's claim to what he called the Malvinas.
He ruled out the use of force to solve the dispute and welcomed the development of trade between the UK and Argentina, which reached $1.2 billion (£735 million) last year.
Mr Menem said: "My visit here is truly guided by a spirit of peace and reconciliation. Without forgetting the past, I now look towards the future."
The wreath-laying ceremony in the crypt of the cathedral was the centrepiece of the six-day visit, the first by an Argentine president since the conflict.
The 15-minute act of remembrance saw British and Argentine veterans standing side by side, with Prince Andrew next to Argentine veteran Vice-Commodoro Gustavo Aguirre Faguet.
Mr Menem, in a dark blue double-breasted suit, stood before the memorial plaque, with his daughter in a dark two-piece suit.
Senior military personnel from each country stood to attention as an unseen bugler sounded reveille, following a one-minute silence.
Mr Menem then stepped forward to lay the wreath beneath the vast slate memorial dedicated "in honour of the South Atlantic Task Force and to the abiding memory of all those who gave their lives".
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, his shadow, Mr Michael Howard, and the former Falklands Governor, Sir Rex Hunt, were among the official British delegation, which also included the wounded and the widowed from the battles that saw Britain recapture the islands.
At the end of the ceremony, Prince Andrew, dressed in his naval lieutenant commander uniform, walked alongside President Menem into the body of the cathedral where both signed the visitors' book in the choir. When they emerged they clasped hands for 15 seconds.
Mr Menem then shook hands with former Parachute Regiment Private Denzil Connick (41), who lost a leg in the battle for Mount Longdon.
President Menem and his daughter then went to Buckingham Palace for lunch.