Prime Minister Patrick Manning was one of the first Heads of Government to sip from a solid gold, antique Commonwealth Goblet at Friday night’s long-awaited Royal Commonwealth Dinner.

Dozens of the golden goblets, small but impressive, were provided by the United Kingdom’s delegation for use at a high powered dinner meeting on Friday night, hosted by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England.

The golden goblets are a symbol of the Commonwealth’s greatness and are displayed on ceremonial occasions.

The ’priceless’ objects arrived in T&T last week, ahead of the Queen who touched down at Piarco on Thursday.

On Friday night, at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Port of Spain, heads of Government from various Commonwealth countries and their spouses began arriving at around 8 p.m. for the lauded event where they were formally and individually greeted by the Queen.

The Queen then made her way into the Regency Ballroom to take her seat before other Heads came in. Several toasts were given throughout the night, with the Queen, who is the Head of the Commonwealth but not directly involved in the daily deliberations of the conference, wishing the various leaders success at their meetings which span the course of the weekend. Her official speech lasted just under two minutes.

The Alternative Quartet, a local group of young, classically trained string musicians, provided entertainment for dining.

According to Commonwealth protocol, after the dinner, the goblets would have been promptly returned to a vault at the Central Bank in Port of Spain for safekeeping until they are returned to England.