Michael D. Higgins will this weekend be the first Irish president to attend the coronation of a British monarch.
President Higgins and his wife Sabina have travelled to London to attend Saturday's coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey.
Their attendance follows an invitation received by President Higgins from King Charles, said a release from Áras an Uachtaráin.
Ahead of the coronation, President and Mrs. Higgins will attend a reception at Buckingham Palace where they will meet with King Charles.
Added the release: "This will be the ninth occasion on which President Higgins will have met King Charles. The two Heads of State have a long-established relationship having met in person on eight previous occasions over the last decade, as well as a number of other regular contacts.
"In acknowledgement of King Charles’ life-long commitment to environmental sustainability and to mark the occasion of the coronation, the Tree Council of Ireland, at the request of the President and Sabina, have planted a native Irish oak tree in the woodland forest of Aurora, Co. Wicklow."
