Countries should live together as friends, says queen Elizabeth
President Higgins thanks monarch for her kind, generous welcome and warm hospitality on first day of State visit
President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip before the banquet at Windsor Castle. Photograph: Alan Betson.
Britain and Ireland shall “no longer allow our past to ensnare our future”, Queen Elizabeth said last night.
In an address to a state banquet for President Michael D Higgins at Windsor Castle, part of the first state visit to Britain by an Irish president, the queen said the countries should live together as neighbours and friends who are “respectful of each other’s nationhood, sovereignty and traditions”.