🔗 Share this article

Beneath ornate paintings and armored displays in the royal residence, 160 guests wined and dined at a lavish dinner to honor the American leader’s unprecedented second state visit to the United Kingdom.

In addition to the flawless dining arrangements, three-course meal and specially crafted drink, the guest selection and, just as importantly, who was seated next to who is carefully planned, since the gathering is as much about diplomacy as it is about gourmet meals.

This year's guest list was noticeably lacking Hollywood celebrities or famous personalities, with not even royal perennials like the famous footballer or the music icon attending.

Instead, the list was mostly royals, technology and banking leaders, and political figures from each nation of the ocean.

From Trump's seat of honour at the centre of the table, next to his host the British sovereign, those throughout the table ranged from low-profile yet powerful White House players to sports figures.

Here were some notable guests - and their table companions.

Corporate Executives

The guest arrangement leaned towards influence, affluence and clout, including Apple's boss Tim Cook, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAi's Sam Altman, the chief of Blackstone and - still powerful after all these years, Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch’s presence was a surprising invitee given the fact Trump is taking legal action against one of his newspapers for billions over claims he authored a note framed by a drawing of a naked woman to convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein.

Less surprising perhaps is that Murdoch, owner of The Sun and The Times, was seated next to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's chief political spin doctor Morgan McSweeney.

From a monetary perspective however, Murdoch's Newscorp is relatively minor. Other attendees between them lead companies worth nearly an enormous sum - four times the value of the British economic output.

American corporate leaders sat down with British monarchs and announced a £150 billion investment into the UK over the next decade.

Over half of that (£90 billion) is coming from investment firm Blackstone - no surprise that its CEO was seated next to Sir Keir.

But what do these benefactors want in return? Eliminating the UK's tech levy, watering down the internet regulation? No and no, according to officials, who say they see the relationship akin to the one shared on security matters.

Recent conflicts have shown that the continent is heavily dependent on the US for those things.

Commentators have called this as an invasion rather than funding, with ex-government official and ex-Meta employee Sir Nick Clegg warning that the UK could become a vassal state creating new reliance on a small group of US companies.

Given the administration and nation that is in desperate need of capital and growth, you want to be first in line when it's being allocated - and the UK does seem at the front of the queue.

Presidential Delegation

A bulk of the table - nearly twenty-four seats - were occupied by the president’s team, including his wife, daughter, family member, and a array of senior members of his administration covering everything from international affairs to AI.

Naturally accompanying him was his wife, Melania Trump, whose place card simply read "Mrs Trump". Her placement was across from her husband, between Queen Camilla and the heir to the throne, William, while Catherine was next to President Trump.

Top diplomat Marco Rubio scored a prime spot next to the monarch, with Lady Victoria Starmer, not her husband, on his other side.

Tiffany Trump, youngest offspring of the president, was the only one of Trump's children to be present at the state banquet this time.

On the last state visit in 2019, she was one of four children to come. She has been less active in the Trump administrations than her brothers and sisters, but some like her sister have taken a step back in his current presidency.

Her spouse the businessman also attended. He is no stranger to London, having studied in the city.

Without an official role in the Trump administration, but the president selected his father Massad Boulos as a key advisor, and the younger Boulos was placed in a prominent seat beside the Princess of Wales.

The real estate mogul, turned Trump's diplomatic representative who is playing a pivotal role in foreign policy on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, likely found much to talk about with his neighbour the security adviser, Starmer's National Security Adviser.

The White House Chief of Staff, was Trump's campaign manager in the recent presidential race. Referred to as the "cool operator" who operates mostly "behind the scenes", but she is known as one of the most feared strategists in the US.

She was seated next to someone with another important but behind-the-scenes role - top aide to the King, Sir Clive Alderton.

Another apt pairing was the technology official, the White House's digital assets lead, next to Demis Hassabis, CEO and co-founder of Google's DeepMind, a British-American AI company.

Royal Family

The monarch was seated next to his guest of honour Trump and the Secretary of State, while the King's son’s wife the Princess of Wales was on Trump's other flank.

The Queen Consort was across the table, next to the First Lady, but more notably, also flanked by the US finance chief the economic official.

Sitting next to the First Lady, the Prince of Wales could discuss more local matters with his other neighbour, Paula Reynolds, chairwoman of National Grid.

The Princess Royal, who is known for her love of equestrian pursuits, was sitting next to racehorse trainer John Gosden.

On her other side was the US diplomatic representative to the UK Warren Stephens, who hosted Trump and the First Lady at his residence in the London location the first night they arrived in the UK, with the finance minister at his opposite elbow.

Other senior royals were seated next to White House powerbrokers.

Princess Anne's husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence sat next to Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor the official.

Next to the royal relative, the late Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, was Dan Scavino, White House second-in-command.

The Duchess of Gloucester was seated next to James Blair, assistant for government relations.