HE President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi

and Mrs Franca Ciampi made a State Visit to the United Kingdom from 15 to 17 March 2005. It celebrated the President's personal contribution to modern Italian history and to the growth of the European Union. It also reciprocated the hospitality provided to HM The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during their State visit to Italy in October 2000, and Her Majesty's personal relationship with President Ciampi. The visit also highlighted the depth and variety of the contemporary relationship between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Italy, and in particular links between the British and

Italian armed forces; business, including between financial industries; and cultures, especially art, cuisine and fashion. During the visit, President and Mrs Ciampi were guests at Buckingham Palace.

On their arrival, President and Mrs Ciampi enjoyed a ceremonial welcome by Her Majesty and Prince Philip on Horse Guards. A Guard of Honour by the Nijmegen Company

of the Grenadier Guards with The Queen's Company Colour, the Royal Standard of the Regiment, and the Band of the Regiment was mounted on Horse Guards for the guests’ arrival. The Queen's Life Guard gave the Royal Salute as the President's procession advanced; a Royal Salute was fired in Green Park by the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company. As the procession reached Buckingham Palace, a Guard of Honour of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards was mounted in the Quadrangle, and The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, at the Victoria Memorial. After luncheon in the Bow Room, the two Heads of State exchanged gifts in the Carnavon Room.

Her Majesty offered a State banquet

at Buckingham Palace with about 170 guests from the worlds of fashion, cuisine, art and sport. Her Majesty proposed the health of guests in a toast , and President Ciampi replyiedwith a toast of his own. The invitation was reciprocated later during the visit by a return banquet

at the Residence of HE Giancarlo Aragona, Italian Ambassador to the Court of St James.

President and Mrs Ciampi visited the Royal Collection in the palace's Picture Gallery, accompanied by Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh, to examine in particular some of the Italian items held there. They also visited the British Museum, accompanied

by HRH The Duke of York, to view the Spinario, a bronze sculpture from the 1st century BC, on loan there from Rome's Capitoline Museums. Giuliano Urbani, Minister of Culture, and Dott.ssa Anna Sommella, Director of the Capitoline Museums, were present. President Ciampi opened the "Luxury in Living" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, while Mrs Ciampi viewed an exhibition by modern Italian painters at the Tate Modern Gallery.

President Ciampi underlined the close co-operation between the Italian and British armed forces by laying a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

President and Mrs Ciampi were welcomed and accompanied there by the Very Rev. Dr Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster. Italy is a founder member of NATO. It is playing a prominent role in peacekeeping, stabilisation and reconstruction operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, where British troops are also deployed.

President and Mrs Ciampi visited Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie Blair, at Number 10 Downing Street.

They also visited the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British Parliament, where they were welcomed by a speech by Speaker of the House of Commons and another by Lord Chancellor , to which President Ciampi gave a brief reply. Members of both Houses of Parliament then offered a reception for them in the Robing Room. President Ciampi also received calls by the Rt. Hon. Michael Howard MP, leader of the Opposition, and the Rt. Hon. Charles Kennedy MP, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Business links were celebrated during a visit to the City of London, Britain's financial centre, in the company of TRH Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. At the Guildhall, the seat of the Corporation of London, th Prsident inspected a guard of honour

of the Honourable Artillery Company before being entertained to luncheon by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Michael Savory, and the Lady Mayoress. During this visit, Prsident Ciampi presented an equestrian statue by the Rome sculptor Duilio Cambelotti (1876-1960) to

be exhibited in the Guildhall Yard. Italy is the UK’s eighth largest export market and third largest supplier. The UK is Italy's fourth largest market. About 1,600 British companies operate in Italy through subsidiaries and joint ventures. Italian investment accounts for over 50,000 jobs in the UK. More than 200 UK companies have industrial investments in Italy employing some 46,000 staff.

President and Mrs Ciampi attended a reception for the Italian community in the United Kingdom,

held in London's Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.

President and Mrs Ciampi also visited Oxford, where His Excellency was admitted by the Chancellor, The Lord Patten of Barnes, to the degree by diploma of a Doctor of Civil Law. They were guests of honour at a reception in the Divinity School and at a dinner in the Hall of Christ Church. During their visit to the city, the guests will visited the

Ashmolean Museum.

Previous State visits to the UK were made by Presidents Gronchi in 1958, Saragat in 1969 and Cossiga in 1990. Her Majesty has visited Italy four times: in 1951 (as The Princess Elizabeth, before her coronation), in 1961, 1980 and October 2000. President and Mrs Ciampi last paid an official visit to the UK in June 2000, when they had lunch at Buckingham Palace with HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.


Visit also these other sites…

the Royal website
Presidency of the Republic of Italy (in Italian)
Italian Embassy, London

Read the joint article by Foreign Ministers Jack Straw and Gianfranco Fini: "The deep and close relationship between Britain and Italy"

... and the article Britain and Italy never so close, published in the Giornale di Sicilia and Il Gazzettino (available only in Italian).