David and Victoria Beckham are among around 170 guests at tonight’s State Banquet in the Buckingham Palace ballroom.
David, who served as an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup in 2022, became an ambassador for The King’s Foundation in June, when he swapped beekeeping tips with the monarch over tea at Highgrove.
He was seated between Paris St Germain president Nasser el Khelaifi and Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch, while Victoria sat opposite him and sitting between Lord Levy and Lord Darzi.
While both David and Victoria have attended events at the Palace before, this was the first time they have been invited to one of the glittering banquets laid on for foreign heads of state.
The King and Queen and Emir and Sheikha were joined at the top table by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, who took Kate’s usual place, Sir Keir Starmer and his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were among guests, along with Cressida Hogg, chairman of BAE Systems and her husband Henry Legge – a stepbrother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Guests dined on a light tartlet of Cornish lobster with quails eggs and organic salad leaves, followed by Supreme of Windsor pheasant wrapped in Savoy cabbage, roasted celeriac purée, gratinated potatoes with a soft creamy cheese from Suffolk, truffle sauce and a selection of winter vegetables.
Dessert was an iced bombe with Organic Samoan vanilla ice cream and Balmoral plum sorbet.
