Would Queen Elizabeth vote for Mary McAleese? Possibly. As far as Quidnunc is aware, Mrs McAleese is the only one of the five presidential candidates personally known to her. The two first met in October 1995 at the special event in St James Palace, London, for the 150th anniversary of the three Queen's Colleges - Belfast, Galway and Cork - attended by then President Mary Robinson. Mrs McAleese got talking to Sir Simon Cooper, head of the Queen's Household, about the position of nationalists in the North. An invitation from the queen to a private lunch in Buckingham Palace followed in May 1996. There were eight guests in all including Sir Rupert Smith, GOC Northern Ireland. The North was the topic of conversation.
Afterwards Mrs McAleese sent the queen a copy of Seamus Heaney's The Spirit Level. The queen replied saying she hoped to have read it for her next meeting with Mrs Robinson. If Mrs McAleese makes the Park, will Queen Elizabeth be her first State visitor?