ROBERT HARDMAN: Riding with the Queen, Brigitte Macron blew movie star kisses at the crowd
Everything and everyone simply slotted into place yesterday morning and made it look as if these things are a daily occurrence as the King and Queen welcomed the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte.
After all, this castle was built by a Frenchman anyway, one William I from Normandy.
The largest Royal Standard in the flag cupboard – a full 36 ft across – swirled above the Round Tower.
The Household Cavalry had been up since the early hours polishing every hoof and stirrup.
One of the most impressive sights yesterday was simply watching them reversing their horses at right angles on to the pavement as they lined up and waited for the visitors to arrive.
The Macrons flew in to RAF Northolt in a Dassault Falcon, to be greeted on the runway by the heir to the throne, as tradition dictates.
The Prince and Princess of Wales (diplomatically dressed in Christian Dior) escorted them to the State Bentley for the short drive to Windsor.
There, the King and Queen were waiting on the dais beneath a medieval- style pavilion erected on somewhat suburban Datchet Road. There was red carpet everywhere and generous helpings of sand on the road to ensure a firm grip for the horses.
The only slightly incongruous note was the words 'Bus Stop' in huge yellow lettering painted on the road immediately in front.
The president was in tactile form, a long double-palmed handshake (nearly half a minute) with the King, and theatrical kissing of the Queen's hand.
When a State Visit happens in London, the greeting line usually includes the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Chiefs of Staff.
This being Berkshire, protocol dictated a line-up of local worthies who, unlike the King and his guest, had not received the 'lounge suit' memo.
The Mayor of the Royal Borough, Mandy Kaur Brar, was in her full scarlet robes and tricorn hat alongside the High Sheriff of Berkshire, Sean Taylor, in Georgian frills.
After the French anthem and the salute from the Household Cavalry, the King led his guests to the carriages for the procession through the town. It being a glorious sunny day, the Royal Mews had sent out its open-topped fleet – the landaus – rather than the enclosed coaches they use for winter arrivals.
Over the road, excited pupils at St George's choir school frantically waved French tricolours from first floor windows, to the delight of the King and M Macron in the 1902 State Landau. Riding behind with the Queen in the Semi-State Landau, Mme Macron was blowing movie star kisses at the crowd.
It was notable that the loudest cheers (and a few screams) along the route were for a public sighting of the Princess of Wales, riding with the Prince and two French ministers in the Ascot Landau.
The procession took the visitors past the Guildhall, where the King and Queen were married 20 years ago, and on to the Long Walk, the gloriously scenic route up to the castle.
Staff had taken a leaf out of the late Queen's book when entertaining visiting French presidents. In 2004, while marking the centenary of the Entente Cordiale with President Chirac, she had laid on an after-dinner performance of Les Miserables in the Waterloo Chamber.
Except, she ordered that it be renamed 'The Music Room' for the evening.
Last night, guests discovered that, ahead of a concert for the Macrons, it had miraculously become 'The Music Room' once again.
Much of the French media were eagerly looking out for any fresh hints of tensions between the president and First Lady, following their recent tiff filmed on a trip to Vietnam. Some reporters detected a froideur as Mme Macron stepped off the plane at Northolt, rejecting her husband's hand.
It would, at least, suggest that the King might be spared the awkwardness during the previous State Visit by a French president – which also took place at Windsor.
In 2008, the then president, Nicolas Sarkozy, arrived just days after his wedding to his supermodel girlfriend, Carla Bruni. Following the magnificent white tie State Banquet in St George's Hall, everyone went through for after-dinner coffee and drinks.
After a while, the late Queen and her guests were somewhat surprised to discover that President Sarkozy and his wife were nowhere to be seen and had left before their host.
An official attempted to explain that they were tired. Some years later, the French journalist and author Marc Roche, who had been among the guests that night, asked Ms Bruni about that evening while researching his book, Elle Ne Voulait Pas Etre Reine. She replied: 'We were newly-married.'
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