Princess Kate and Prince William joined King Charles and Queen Camilla in welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte to a special exhibition at the Royal Collection this afternoon.
The display showcased historic treasures highlighting centuries of Anglo-French cultural connections.
After lunch in the State Dining Room, the Royal Family guided their French guests to the Green Drawing Room to view carefully selected items from the Royal Collection relating to France.
The exhibition featured an extraordinary array of artefacts spanning from medieval times to the modern era.
The carefully curated display included priceless items such as illuminated manuscripts from the 1400s, a gold snuff box that once belonged to Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon's personal travelling library.
Kate and William attend special exhibition just hours before State Banquet.
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These treasures demonstrated how Paris has served as Europe's art capital since the thirteenth century, with the Channel acting as a vital conduit for culture, trade and diplomacy between the two nations.
The exhibition featured remarkable medieval and Renaissance artworks that illustrated the enduring artistic exchange between Britain and France.
Among the earliest pieces was the Sobieski Hours, an illuminated manuscript created by the Bedford Master around 1430, demonstrating how Parisian painters continued working for both French and English patrons even during the Hundred Years' War.
The display included an illuminated manuscript from around 1500 by Jean Pichore, court painter to Louis XII, featuring a miniature of St Luke, patron saint of painters, at his easel.
This work exemplified the Renaissance style promoted by Pichore and his humanist patron, Georges d'Amboise, the king's Chief Minister.
Kensington Palace has confirmed the Princess of Wales will join the Royal Family at the State Banquet this evening.
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Royal portraiture was represented by Jean Clouet's miniature of the Dauphin from around 1526, showing the future king at eight years old.
The exhibition also featured Henri de Gissey's 1654 depiction of the fifteen-year-old Louis XIV dressed as Apollo for a ballet performance.
The French decorative arts section of the exhibition showcased the exceptional craftsmanship that established France as a global leader in luxury goods production.
A writing table from around 1680, attributed to André-Charles Boulle, demonstrated the excellence promoted during Louis XIV's reign and may have been acquired by George III and Queen Charlotte.
George IV's passion for French porcelain was represented by a Sèvres water jug, cover and basin from 1771, decorated in cobalt blue with gold highlights. This combination was particularly prized during the 1760s and 1770s.
After lunch in the State Dining Room, the Royal Family guided their French guests to the Green Drawing Room to view carefully selected items from the Royal Collection relating to France.
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The most spectacular piece was a gold snuff box bearing Marie Antoinette's diamond-set cipher, attributed to René-Antoine Bailleul from 1784-5 and acquired by Queen Mary.
The exhibition also included a 1934-5 Art Deco presentation box by Jean Goulden, given to King George V and Queen Mary for their Silver Jubilee by the people and producers of Champagne, containing a seventeenth-century champagne glass believed to be the earliest of its kind.
The exhibition included Napoleon's remarkable travelling library, consisting of 109 pocket-sized volumes from John Bell's "The Poets of Great Britain Complete from Chaucer to Churchill" published between 1777 and 1784.
Despite never mastering English, Napoleon made determined efforts to learn during his first year of exile on St Helena, taking daily lessons and becoming a fluent reader by spring 1816.
The set eventually passed to his son Napoleon François in Austria, where he lived with his mother Marie-Louise after 1814.
Kate wore a Dior blazer during the engagement.
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In 1933, Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria sold it at auction, and a British couple, Mr and Mrs Jaffe, purchased the collection and presented it to King George V.
Other significant books displayed included a 1585 encyclopaedia by Pierre de Dampmartin bound for Henri III, and the first English translation of Montaigne's Essays from 1603 by John Florio, which profoundly influenced Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Donne and Francis Bacon.
Queen Victoria wrote to King Louis-Philippe after his October 1844 visit to Windsor Castle, expressing hopes for strengthening the "entente Cordiale" between the two countries.
Reciprocal visits in 1855 during the Crimean War further nurtured this friendship, with Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie visiting Windsor in April, followed by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's first visit to Paris in August.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's first state visit was to France in July 1938, where the King's speech focused on "notre entente" and "notre amitié".
Queen Elizabeth II and President Mitterrand later inaugurated a new era of relations by cutting the ribbon at the Channel Tunnel opening on 6 May 1994.
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