President to meet King Charles ahead of coronation ceremony

ireland
President To Meet King Charles Ahead Of Coronation Ceremony
Michael D Higgins will become the first Irish head of state to attend a coronation. Photo: PA
Share this article

By David Young, PA

President Michael D Higgins will meet Britain's King Charles on Friday night ahead of becoming the first Irish head of state to attend a British coronation.

Mr Higgins and his wife Sabina will be guests at a reception at Buckingham Palace on the eve of the coronation ceremony in London.

Advertisement

It will be the ninth occasion the two heads of state have met and continues a long-standing friendship between the two.

Mr and Mrs Higgins will then attend the coronation on Saturday at Westminster Abbey.

The King and Michael D Higgins
King Charles and Michael D Higgins have met on numerous occasions. Photo: John Stillwell/PA

Advertisement

To mark the event, the president and his wife requested the Tree Council of Ireland to plant a native Irish oak tree in the woodland forest of Aurora in Co Wicklow.

The gesture was to acknowledge Charles’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

Ireland
Taoiseach urges respect for British monarchy amid...
Read More

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is also expected to attend the coronation.

Political leaders from the North have also been invited.

Advertisement

Among those who will attend is Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill in another demonstration of the markedly improved relations between the republican movement and the royal family since the peace process.

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com