Beneath gilded portraits and suits of armour in Windsor Castle, 160 guests wined and dined at a lavish banquet to fete US President Donald Trump's unprecedented second state visit to the UK on Wednesday evening.

Along with the impeccable table settings, three-course meal and custom cocktail, who was there and, just as importantly, who was seated next to who is carefully planned, since the event is as much about diplomacy as it is about fine dining.

This year's guest list was conspicuously missing screen stars or celebrity faces, with not even royal perennials like Sir David Beckham or Sir Elton John attending.

Instead, the list was mostly royals, tech and finance executives, and politicos from both sides of the Atlantic.

From Trump's seat of honour at the centre of the table, next to his host King Charles III, those up and down the table ranged from lesser-known but influential White House players to professional golfers.

Here were some notable guests - and their neighbours at the table.

The table leaned towards power, wealth and influence, including Apple's boss Tim Cook, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAi's Sam Altman, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman and - still powerful after all these years, Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch.

The last is a surprising invitee given the fact Trump is suing one of his newspapers for billions over claims he wrote a note framed by a drawing of a naked woman to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Less surprising perhaps is that Murdoch, owner of The Sun and The Times, was sat next to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's chief political spin doctor Morgan McSweeney.

In purely financial terms however,........

© BBC