QUEEN Elizabeth II of England and her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh will put their Spanish counterparts up at the British monarch's private residence, Windsor Castle, when they visit the UK – a privilege granted to very few heads of State.
The now-abdicated King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofía stayed at Windsor 30 years ago when they visited the Queen of England, and their son and successor, King Felipe VI and his wife, Queen Letizia will be given the same distinguished treatment.
Britain's longest-reigning monarch normally puts up national leaders at Buckingham Palace, which she has never made any secret about the fact she finds 'cold and uncomfortable' – privacy is nearly impossible because of the literally hundreds of staff, and the iconic central London building is mainly the Royal workplace.
But Windsor Castle – which is in fact more of a walled-in village and about 25 miles west of the British capital – is HRH Elizabeth II's favourite residence.
She has been spending weekends there for decades – and her summer holidays at Balmoral Castle in Scotland – but in recent years has taken to spending weeks at a time at Windsor.
Among the privileged few who got to stay at Elizabeth II's true 'home' instead of her 'office' include former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, who visited the UK in 2010, and Irish Prime Minister Michael Higgins in April 2014 when he made an official trip to London to finally seal a peace declaration between the British capital and Dublin, long overdue given that the latter declared its independence in the 1920s.
Windsor Castle is where the Queen of England feels more relaxed and at home, and heads of State who stay there instead of at Buckingham Palace are usually those with whom her relationship is more based on friendship than business.
A formal dinner-dance will be given in honour of King Felipe and Queen Letizia at Windsor when they arrive on March 8, and a later one will be arranged by the Lord Mayor of London and the City of London Corporation in accordance with the set protocol for State visits, which happen around twice a year.
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