Every Day Casual Special Day Elegant
Since 1914, State Banquets have been held in the Ballroom. The Ballroom is 120 feet long, 59 feet wide and 44 feet high.
The size of the Ballroom's horseshoe-shaped dining table can be adjusted. For a State Banquet is it is usually set at 28 feet across the top, seating 15. Each side is 78 feet long seating 78. (That means each guest is allowed 1 foot of space at the table. What those elbows!)
The table is covered with seven linen tablecloths of finely woven damask. The front of The Queen's table is dressed with damask festoons, a tradition that dates back to George IV's coronation banquet.
The table is decorated with over 100 12 inch ivory candles.
There are always displays of fruit on the tables. These include grapes, pineapples, plums, and nectarines. The candelabra and flower stands are placed on mirror plateaux reflecting the gleam of the gilt plate and the candlelight.
The table napkins are usually folded into a Dutch bonnet style. The napkins are crucial in working out the measurements of the place settings. They are the first items placed on the table. The Yeoman of the China and Glass Pantries folds each napkin himself.
Staff begin setting the table 2 days before the banquet. Each place setting includes 6 glasses - one each for red wine, white wine, water, port and 2 for champagne - 1 for the toast and 1 for the pudding course - a side plate, glass butter dish, 2 knives, 2 forks, dessert spoon and fork, and a butter knife. A knife, fork and spoon are provided with the fruit course. A salt, mustard pot and pepper caster are placed between every 4 guests. For 170 guests over 2,000 pieces of cutlery are needed to serve and eat the meal.
The 1,014 glasses used were made at Stourbridge for The Queen's coronation in 1953 and are engraved with the EIIR cipher. Queen Victoria's Minsen plates are used for the pudding course.
The Queen always makes a pre-dinner check to make sure everything is as it should be. She can spot a place setting a 1/2" out of place at 50 paces!
There are usually 23 flower arrangements on the banquet table and 9 larger arrangements around the ballroom. The team of flower arrangers spend around 36 hours preparing the flowers.
Each guest receives a booklet when they arrive. The booklet contains a guest list, a menu and wine list, the music that will be played and a seating plan with a coloured dot indicating their place at the table. The booklets are decorated with the ribbon in the national colours of the visiting nation. 
The visiting dignitary is seated on the Queen's right, Prince Philip to the Queen's left. The spouse of the dignitary is seated on Prince Philips left. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is seated on the dignitary's right. The Prince of Wales is seated to the left of the dignitary's spouse. Also in attendance is usually The Princess Royal, Princess Anne and her husband, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Duke and Duchess of Kent, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. They are seated throughout the tables so everyone is within a close proximity of an HRH.
The end of the banquet is signalled by the arrival of 12 pipers, from the Scots or Irish Guards accompanied by The Queen's Piper. This tradition dates from the days of Queen Victoria who was the first monarch to employ a full time Piper. Recently The Queen found these State Dinners were lasting too long. After consultation with the appropriate people, it was decided to do away with the soup course. This cuts 20 minutes off the length of the banquet.
"... A pink diamond has long been considered one of the rarest colored diamonds." ( S.C. Hofer, Pink Diamonds from Australia, 1985).
She even wears it with a pink hat
Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee.
In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth.
I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart as we join together in our celebrations.
I send my sincere good wishes to you all.
ELIZABETH R.
God Save the Queen!
Long May You Reign!
But the true story of what happened on 6th of February 1952 has only just come to light, nearly 60 years after it happened.
King George VI seeing of Princess Elizabeth
The story begins with Her Majesty leaving England on 31st January to undertake the visit to the country in place of her sick father.
Princess Elizabeth waving goodbye to her dad, King George VI
The visit was part of an international tour that was also to take in Australia and New Zealand.
Six days later, on February 6, 1952, the then Princess Elizabeth visited the Treetops hotel to stay in one of the famous cabins that sit high up in the trees.
The Princess and her husband had travelled there to relax and enjoy a short respite from their duties, while also intending to take in the variety of wildlife on offer.
The Princess enjoyed herself so much that she asked for tea to be served outside to avoid missing any of the wildlife.
Keen to capture more on her camera, the Queen awoke early the following day and saw two rhino fighting at a nearby waterhole.
She soon had to leave but happily promised 'I will come again' as she left for a fishing lodge known as Sagana, around 20 miles away.
As the Queen departed, several thousand miles away servants at Sandringham were preparing to wake the King for his morning bath.
His Majesty had seemed in good spirits the previous evening when he returned from a shooting party with his friend Lord Fermoy.
He spent time playing with his two grandchildren, Charles and Anne, and had dinner with his younger daughter Margaret, before retiring to bed.
The King's valet James McDonald had prepared the bath, with the running water usually enough to wake him.
However that morning it did not, and McDonald, alongside page Maurice Watts, knew something was seriously wrong.
A doctor was called, and he confirmed that the King had passed away in his sleep.
'Hyde Park Corner' the codeword used in event of King George's death was enacted and Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill was informed at once.
However, with the site the Queen and her husband were visiting being almost cut off from the outside world, it would be four hours before the news reached her.
The source of the news from Sandringham came from a journalist called Granville Roberts, who worked on the East African Standard and was covering the royal visit.
