While the nature of Donald Trump’s second state visit is indeed unusual, from the moment Sir Keir Starmer delivered the gold-edged invitation it began a process steeped in tradition.

State visits are usually reserved to one per head of state, with Trump last hosted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.

Typically, second-term US presidents are offered a shorter visit, perhaps tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle. But the red carpet is literally being rolled out once again, with Trump receiving a second full state visit, with all the pomp and pageantry it entails.

An indication was given early on in Trump’s second term that he’d be receptive to a second state visit, and so – on perhaps the advice of the new prime minister – the King issued a second invitation.

The greatest form of tradition is one that always evolves, and so this may now set a new precedent for presidents who are voted out but then return to serve a second term.

Any nation can hold a state visit, but what is unique about Britain remains our internationally respected pageantry.

Even down to the very invitation – there is a very precise format for inviting someone on a state visit.

An invite must be issued, established by international law. Written on a special gold-edged paper, embossed with a golden coat of arms that is issued, it forms part of a historic archive.

Breaches of protocol

Much has been made in the past about moments where protocol was breached – Michelle Obama famously put her arm around Queen Elizabeth in 2011, but, in all honesty, I doubt very much the Queen was upset by this.

The fuss was not made by the late monarch, who accepted that what mattered was that Americans should be made very welcome on behalf of the UK.

In 2018, criticism emerged against Trump, who appeared to make the Queen change places when the Guard of Honour was to be inspected.

But, in truth, it was Elizabeth II who had to correct herself because, in her long life as sovereign, she never escorted a visiting president.

The escort should stand further from the troops and her self-correction was misinterpreted as his error.

Trump’s visit this time will likely generate just as many headlines, but I don’t think there will be critical moments where a breach occurs.

What it means for Trump – and is it worth it?

Trump’s mother would cut out and keep in a scrapbook containing pictures of the young Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret Rose. It was an era before endless celebrity news, a time when public life revolved around the royals, the war, and survival.

And the president loved his mother, like many men do, so these things mean an enormous amount to him.

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No state visit has had a backdrop quite like this

When the horses go back to the stables and the carriages are put away, the impact of this visit will remain fresh in the mind of a president who may feel his nation – and maybe even he himself – have been affirmed by their ally.

Quite apart from the politics, although much will be said and written on that, there is one great hope for any state visit: that the country so many (myself included) have fought for can be safer and more successful as a result of the pomp and pageantry on display.

The suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has had strict conditions slapped on him ahead of his expected release from prison in the morning.

Christian B, who can’t be fully identified under privacy laws, will have to wear an electronic tag, surrender his passport and register his address with probation officers.

The German drifter, 49, is being freed after serving a seven-year sentence for rape, but remains the only suspect for the abduction of Madeleine, the toddler who vanished on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.

It was not known where he would head, or who might help him adjust to a new life as the only suspect in the world’s most notorious unsolved child abduction mystery.

Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who leads the Madeleine investigation, believes Christian B, 49, abducted and murdered the three-year-old during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.

Madeleine vanished from her bed in a rented apartment as her parents and their friends dined nearby at the hotel complex in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast.

Earlier this week it emerged the Metropolitan Police had sent a formal “international letter of request” to Christian B in order for them to interview him – but he rejected it.

Explainer: The chequered history of Christian B

In the past few days, a probation case conference decided on the restrictions which his lawyers are expected to challenge.

His lawyer Philipp Marquort said: “This is an attempt by the public prosecutor’s office to keep him in a kind of pre-trial detention where they would have access to him at any time.”

Christian B has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Madeleine, who was nearly four, was sleeping in a room with her younger twin siblings when she went missing.

Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for his second state visit, telling reporters Britain is “a very special place”.

But as he headed to the residence of the US ambassador to the UK in central London to spend Tuesday night, giant projections of the president alongside paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were beamed on to Windsor Castle by protesters.

It is there he will meet with King Charles later today.

Four people were arrested on “suspicion of malicious communications” after the images of Mr Trump and Epstein appeared on the landmark, Thames Valley Police said.

Mr Trump has faced mounting questions about his relationship with the disgraced late billionaire after messages allegedly sent to him by the president were published by Congress earlier this month.

The apparent notes – which Mr Trump denies having written – appeared in a 2003 “birthday book” for Epstein which also included messages from Peter Mandelson, who has since been sacked as Sir Keir Starmer’s ambassador to the US over his ties to the financier.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was among those who greeted the president and First Lady Melania as they disembarked their official plane at Stansted airport on Tuesday evening.

An honour guard of RAF personnel from The King’s Colour Squadron lined up as he stepped off the plane.

Trump excited to see ‘my friend’ Charles

Speaking to reporters mid-flight, Trump said: “My relationship is very good with the UK, and Charles, as you know, who’s now King, is my friend.

“It’s the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honoured twice. So, it’s a great honour.”

He told the journalists “everybody is looking forward to it. You’re going to have the best pictures”.

To mark the president’s arrival, a new UK-US tech deal was announced that could generate billions of pounds of investment for Britain.

Sir Keir – who will host Mr Trump at his Chequers country retreat tomorrow – said the deal would deliver “growth, security and opportunity up and down the country”.

The “tech prosperity deal”, announced as Mr Trump touched down, will see the UK and US co-operate in areas including artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and nuclear power.

It comes alongside £31bn of investment in Britain from top US tech firms, including £22bn from Microsoft.

‘I’m into helping Britain’

It also follows the agreement of an economic deal in May that covered a reduction in some of Mr Trump’s tariffs.

However, the government is understood to have given up hope – for now at least – of reducing the president’s levy on steel back down to zero. It currently stands at 25%.

Mr Trump had hinted at possible tariff relief for British steel as he boarded Air Force One, telling reporters he was “into helping” Britain on refining the trade deal signed earlier this year.