London, England - On the eve of her historic meeting with the former IRA commander Martin McGuinness, the Queen began her two-day tour of Northern Ireland on Tuesday by visiting a community that suffered one of the most notorious IRA attacks.
The Queen joined Catholic and Protestant leaders in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, scene of the Remembrance Day bombing which killed 11 people and injured 63 others 25 years ago. Crowds gathered in the wind and rain to watch her attend a service of thanksgiving in the Anglican St Macartin's Cathedral, then cross the road to St Michael's Roman Catholic church, where she met members of the community.
It was the first time in her 60-year reign the Queen had set foot in a Catholic church in Northern Ireland. But then this visit, probably the most significant she has made to the province, has promised some ground-breaking moments. Chief among them is the much-anticipated meeting between McGuinness, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister, and the Queen, the ultimate symbol of British rule in Ireland.
Wednesday's planned meeting, at an arts event in Belfast and agreed at the 11th hour, has set the tone of the tour. With a focus on reconciliation, Enniskillen was the perfect prelude, given that the bombing of the town caused such widespread revulsion that it kick-started the peace process.
Among the survivors to meet her privately was Stephen Gault, who was wounded that day, and whose father, Sam, 49, was killed. "Today brings back some terrible memories, to be sure," said Gault, "but above all, it shows us that the Enniskillen victims have not been forgotten."
Speaking ahead of her visit, he said he believed the Queen's meeting with McGuinness would be difficult for some. "Nobody has been brought to justice for Enniskillen so it's very hard for the families to accept Mr McGuinness shaking the Queen's hand," he said.
Noel McIlfatrick , whose wife and children were injured, and whose brother-in-law Edward Armstrong was killed in the attack, said: "I certainly wouldn't shake his hand. It will be difficult for the Queen."
But Robin Eames, the former Anglican Primate of All Ireland, welcomed the gesture. "When I arrived in Enniskillen today, I found it difficult to forget what happened," said Eames, who was in in the town on the day of the attack. "But I believe the handshake tomorrow is another milestone in the peace process in Northern Ireland. It is a genuine step forward."
In entrenched republican areas, such as the Bogside in Derry, graffiti reading "Marty U Dare" and "Sinn Féin sellouts", made clear the feelings of dissidents. At a rally in Belfast at the weekend, McGuinness was denounced as a "traitor" and a "Judas". Had he forgotten, they asked, that the Queen decorated the Parachute Regiment of Bloody Sunday notoriety?
But on this tour, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will also be required to set aside past emotions. It cannot be easy meeting a man once part of an organisation which assassinated Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, by blowing up his fishing boat in 1979.
The handshake is the result of prolonged discussion and exact details of its delicate choreography were still not clear on Tuesday. First indications were that there would be no photographic record. McGuinness has recently stated Sinn Féin has no problems with photographs, and "for it not to be recorded I think it would be cowardly".
As final preparations were under way, he stoked up the symbolism further. It would not just be the Queen's gloved hand he was preparing to shake, but, "when shaking the hand of Queen Elizabeth, I'm extending the hand of peace to all my unionist brothers and sisters". So, it will be Queen Elizabeth's hand he shakes, not "the Queen's", a proper noun and a step too far, nor Elizabeth Windsor's, as Sinn Féin has referred to her in the past. Queen Elizabeth would seem to be a compromise in a visit laden with them.