The Queen, once a prime target for the IRA, shook hands not once but twice with Martin McGuinness, a former commander of the terrorist group, in a gesture that meant every bit as much as the sovereign’s historic visit to Ireland last year.
Barely a decade ago, the idea of the monarch, the ultimate symbol of British rule in Ulster, even being in the same room as Mr McGuinness, arguably the most recognisable former member of the IRA, would have been unthinkable.
Yet at a charity event in Belfast, Mr McGuinness appeared genuinely pleased to meet the Queen, even using the traditional Gaelic greeting of Cead Mile Failte – a hundred thousand welcomes.
Nor was their handshake a perfunctory one; the Queen held the hand of Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister for several seconds as they shook hands for the cameras at the end of the event, when Mr McGuinness wished her goodbye with another Gaelic phrase, Slan Agus Beannacht, which he translated for her as “Goodbye and Godspeed”.
Whether by accident or design, even their outfits complemented each other – the Queen in an apple green dress and coat by Angela Kelly, while Mr McGuinness chose a green tie for the occasion.
