French President Jacques Chirac today started his visit to Britain by inspecting a Guard of Honour at the Foreign Office in London.
Under grey skies and heavy drizzle, the Duke of Edinburgh greeted President Chirac for the inspection in the Foreign Office's Quadrangle Courtyard.
Ministers there to greet the French leader included Prime Minister Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett.
Immediately after the pageantry, President Chirac accompanied Mr Blair for the short walk to Number 10 Downing Street.
President Chirac's visit to Britain, which combines an Anglo-French summit with another round of celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the entente cordiale, has already generated controversy. Last night, President Chirac suggested that the Iraq war has made the world a more dangerous place.
President Chirac told the BBC last night: "To a certain extent Saddam Hussein's departure was a positive thing, but it also provoked reaction such as the mobilisation in a number of countries of men and women of Islam which has made the world more dangerous."
He added: "There is no doubt that there has been an increase in terrorism and one of the origins of that has been the situation in Iraq. I am not at all sure that one can say the world is safer."
In an earlier interview with British journalists, President Chirac said that Mr Blair has received nothing in return for backing the Bush administration in Washington.
Officials say talks between the leaders will focus on Iran, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa and climate change.
In the evening he is the guest of Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle. The venue, the Waterloo Chamber, has been tactfully renamed the Music Room for the night in an effort to avoid triumphalism over the 1815 defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Agencies