Bow ties and the Bath as British Queen visits Estonia

Oct 19, 2006, 17:34 GMT

Tallinn - Sartorial splendour took centre stage as Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed to Estonia by the EU's youngest president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, on Thursday.

The queen is famed for her dress sense. For her official welcome to Estonia she had chosen a vivid turquoise coat and hat, with a deep-red flower in the band - one of four striking outfits she is expected to wear during the course of the day.

Ilves rose to the occasion. The 52-year-old president - who was born a year after Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne - is famed for his trademark bow ties.

And to welcome Europe's longest-reigning living monarch, he had donned a pale pink bow tie with burgundy lozenges - carefully chosen to accessorise not just with his wife's autumn coat and dress, but with the Kadriorg palace, his official residence.

After the welcoming ceremony, performed in front of an honour guard representing Estonia's army, navy and air force, the queen presented the Swedish-born Ilves with the insignia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath - the third-oldest order of knighthood in Britain after the Garter and the Thistle.

The honour is a compliment both to Estonia and its newly-elected head of state, but it will not change the way he is addressed: only British and Commonwealth citizens are given the title 'Sir.'

The queen is currently on a week-long tour of the Baltic states. She and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited Lithuania on Monday and Tuesday, and Latvia on Wednesday.

Ilves will host a state banquet for his royal guests on Thursday evening. They will attend an open-air concert and a naval memorial ceremony on Friday, the last day of the visit.