The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, had lunch with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace yesterday.
The occasion was described by Buckingham Palace sources as a "thank you" from Queen Elizabeth to Mrs Robinson for her commitment to deepening the relationship between Britain and Ireland.
On the final day of her three-day visit to Britain, Mrs Robinson also met the Rwandan ambassador to Britain, Dr Zac Nsenta, to discuss a review of UN field operations in Rwanda and other African states in advance of a visit she is planning to make to the region in December.
Mrs Robinson, who criticised the UN this week for "losing the plot" in its work on human rights, also had talks with the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group in the House of Commons. Mrs Robinson met about 30 MPs belonging to the group to discuss her role as High Commissioner and pressed the group to support the work of the UN in securing human rights.
After the meeting, the chairperson of the group, the Labour MP Ms Ann Clwyd, said she hoped Mrs Robinson's visit would be the beginning of a close working relationship between the UN and the Parliamentary Human Rights Group.
One Labour MP who attended the meeting spoke afterwards about the strength of diplomacy he considered Mrs Robinson would bring to her role as High Commissioner for Human Rights. He added: "She is looking for our support and the support of all human rights groups in her new role."
Queen Elizabeth's invitation to Mrs Robinson was made during Mrs Robinson's Presidency, during which they met on two occasions. The first meeting took place at Buckingham Palace in 1993 and they also had lunch at Buckingham Palace in June last year. During those visits Mrs Robinson extended an invitation to Queen Elizabeth to visit Ireland, but Queen Elizabeth has yet to take up the offer.
Yesterday, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Edward greeted Mrs Robinson and her husband, Nicholas, at the Grand Entrance to the Palace before they sat down to lunch in the 1844 State Rooms.
Among the other guests were the Irish Ambassador to Britain, Mr Edward Barrington, and his wife, Clare, and the British ambassador to Ireland, Ms Veronica Sutherland.
A spokeswoman for Mrs Robinson described the meeting as "very relaxed and very informal." The two women had been able to "build on the good relationship between them" which began with Mrs Robinson's earlier visits to Buckingham Palace.