ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship reports from Windsor, following the Nigerian state visit to the UK.
The King is rolling out the red carpet for the Nigerian president on Wednesday, as he hosts a state visit at Windsor Castle.
Charles will welcome Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, to a glittering state banquet in St George’s Hall in their honour, attended by the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
It is the first state visit to the UK by a leader of the west African nation in 37 years, and also the first incoming state visit by a Muslim leader during Ramadan in almost a century.
William and Kate greeted the president and his wife on Wednesday morning, before escorting them to the town centre to formally meet the King and Camilla.
The King, the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and Mr and Mrs Tinubu then travelled in a carriage procession through Windsor, before a ceremonial welcome.
Thames Valley Police said extensive security measures was being deployed in the Berkshire town, as the event takes place against an international backdrop of the deepening Middle East crisis.
The grand royal occasion comes less than a month after the King’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on suspicion of sharing confidential reports with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, amid the ongoing scandal facing the monarchy.
The president and the first lady arrived in the UK on Tuesday on a Nigerian Air Force flight as scheduled, and were met at Stansted Airport.
In an exchange of gifts, Nigeria’s first lady Oluremi Tinubu presented the Queen with a “Matriarchs of Nigeria” jewellery box, featuring the faces of powerful and important Nigerian women.
Their visit has gone ahead despite suicide bombings in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno state on Monday, which killed 23 people and injured more than 100.
Mr Tinubu condemned the “evil-minded” terror groups and said he mourned those who lost their lives, saying “Nigeria will not succumb to fear”.
The last Nigerian state visit to the UK was in 1989, when Queen Elizabeth II welcomed military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida to London.
This time, the two-day visit falls at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, during which many Muslims fast and refrain from eating or drinking between dawn and sunset – so there will be no traditional lunch with the King in the castle for the president during the day.
The programme has been specially adapted, and Charles will receive the president during an audience in the afternoon instead of hosting the usual welcome lunch.
The Nigerian leader’s stay, aimed at strengthening the UK’s position as a global hub for African business, coincides with the Department for Business and Trade’s announcement that hundreds of new jobs are to be created as a series of Nigerian companies scale up their operations in the UK.
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