Behind the Scenes of Donald and Melania Trump’s Visit to the United Kingdom

President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, arrived in London on June 3 to begin a whirlwind visit with the royal family. That morning, Trump and the first lady landed on the grounds of Buckingham Palace in the Marine One helicopter and were greeted by Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. (The Trumps are staying at the U.S. ambassador’s residence instead of at Buckingham Palace because the latter is under construction.)

From there, they were greeted by Queen Elizabeth II, watched an official welcome ceremony with Queen's Guards in the palace’s gardens, and had lunch with members of the royal family inside the palace. The Queen presented both the president and the first lady with gifts: for him, a first edition of The Second World War by Winston Churchill, and for her, a “specially commissioned silver box,” inspired by the music room at Buckingham Palace, reports CNN. The token features a “royal blue center over basses-taille circular rose, thistle, and shamrocks as seen in details of the (Buckingham Palace) Music Room ceiling pattern; raised gold royal cypher details. Guilloche pattern underneath soft opalescent crème enamel to reflect the colors of the room.” The queen also showed them artifacts from the royal gift collection—including the Declaration of Independence.

Other stops on their itinerary included a tour of Westminster Abbey and tea at Clarence House, the home of Charles and Camilla. The day ended with a lavish banquet held in Buckingham Palace Ballroom. Ahead of the event, the royal family shared behind-the-scenes details of how the room was prepared. A series of photos show staff members setting up gold candelabras, cutting pink peonies for elaborate pink floral arrangements, and setting the long tables with flatware. During the event, President Trump and Queen Elizabeth II shared a toast “to the health, prosperity and happiness of the people of the United States,” per the royal family's official Twitter handle.

The trip was not without controversy, however. Shortly before he arrived in the U.K., Trump made headlines for referring to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as “nasty” after an interviewer told him that the former actress had criticized him in 2016. On the day of his arrival, the president also voiced his distaste for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, calling Khan “a stone cold loser” in a tweet.

In another tweet that day, Trump noted that he had not seen any protests during his visit (though there were plenty of demonstrators assembled at the gates of Buckingham Palace to greet him) and said the trip was going well, writing, “The Queen and the entire Royal family have been fantastic.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest