EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: How Queen’s new state coach will cater for Trump’s fondness for opulence

By Ephraim Hardcastle for the Daily Mail

Published: 20:10 EST, 30 January 2017 | Updated: 20:10 EST, 30 January 2017

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Planning Donald Trump's state visit is anything but simple. The Queen has gradually shortened visits to a maximum of three nights.

Trump wants the full monty: tea with the Cambridges (including children); a Blenheim Palace visit; golf at Balmoral; a visit to the Churchill War Rooms; an address to Parliament.

He also wants a carriage procession, anathema to the US Secret Service.

At least the fairly new Diamond Jubilee State Coach might put their minds at rest. It has bullet-proof windows and Trumpian touches – lots of gold leaf, and each door handle is inlaid with 130 sapphires and 24 diamonds.

At least the fairly new Diamond Jubilee State Coach (pictured) might put their minds at rest. It has bullet-proof windows and Trumpian touches

In retrospect, Theresa May's invitation seems a little hasty. Officials had been working on autumn next year as a likely date. It was pointed out that Margaret Thatcher waited a respectable 18 months before greeting Ronald Reagan on his first state visit.

While Mrs May appears determined to ignore the anti-Trump petitions, not so Canada's PM Justin Trudeau.

He announces on Twitter: 'To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.'

He also promises to lecture Trump on the phone. 'As one prime minister pushes the Queen of England in one direction the other pulls the Queen of Canada in a different direction,' observes a court source.

In retrospect, Theresa May's invitation seems a little hasty. Officials had been working on autumn next year as a likely date

Taking part in a blind sniff test of men's fragrances on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House, New York-based historian Dr Amanda Foreman, 48, pictured, described one scent as 'eau- de-pong', adding: 'There's a ponginess to it.

This is a man who is covering up his smelliness with a different smell.' The scent was Donald Trump's Empire.

A Diana statue was first suggested in the aftermath of her death in 1997, but rejected on the absurd grounds that no one had ever caught a correct image of this most photographed of princesses.

Her sons have selected a committee headed by their former private secretary and respected courtier Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton as well as their aunt, Sarah McCorquodale.

Will that respected arbiter of art, architecture and good taste, the Prince of Wales, contribute his thoughts?

Alexander Chancellor's obituaries tactfully gloss over the curious connection between the Oldie editor and painter Lucian Freud, who died in 2011.

Alex's wife, Susanna Debenham, had been Freud's mistress. So had Emily Bearn, 42, the mother of Chancellor's 12-year-old daughter Freya.

Sir John Hurt scored a late theatrical triumph in the West End

Sir John Hurt scored a late theatrical triumph in the West End and Broadway in Krapp's Last Tape, by Samuel Beckett, which required him to eat two bananas nightly on stage.

Hurt hated bananas and asked Beckett's estate if he could skip the fruit. 'They refused,' he complained. 'So I had to eat about 16 bananas a week, including matinees.'