Queen Elizabeth to host banquet for Colombia President

OHMYGOSSIP — Queen Elizabeth with host the President of Colombia at a state banquet tonight (01.11.16). The 90-year-old monarch will welcome Juan Manuel Santos and Maria Clemencia Rodriguez de Santos to the UK at Buckingham Palace, where they are staying, and will later treat them to a feast which has been “well over a year” in the making.

The Royal Family website states: “Preparations for a State Banquet begin well over a year in advance, but the final build of the State Banquet table starts around five days ahead of the arrival of the visiting Head of State.”

Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, will officially welcome the couple into the country at a ceremony on Horse Guards Parade, where Prime Minister Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd will be watching on.

The Colombian President and the First Lady will be in the UK until November 3, and will also travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, before heading back to the South American country.

A statement on the Royal website recently said: “The President of the Republic of Colombia, His Excellency President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, accompanied by Mrs María Clemencia Rodríguez de Santos, has accepted an invitation from The Queen to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom from 1st to 3rd November 2016.

“The President and Mrs Santos will stay at Buckingham Palace.”

This comes after Santos won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end Colombia’s 52-year war with left-wing rebels. He recently revealed plans to donate more than £800,000 of his prize money to victims of the conflict.

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