Michael D Higgins reveals how he introduced Seamus Coleman to bewildered British royalty

To be a fly on the wall for this meeting.

Michael D Higgins has revealed how he introduced Killybegs' finest Seamus Coleman to British royalty during his historic state visit to Britain in 2014. The President told journalist Liam Mackey, in a wide ranging interview with the Irish Examiner, that it was his idea to invite some Irish international players to a banquet at Windsor Castle, and how the Everton defender had to rush from Merseyside down to the event. "Seamus Coleman came. He got permission from the (Everton) manager to break training at lunchtime, legged it down to London, hired the suit and so forth, and I introduced him to the Duke of Edinburgh as the defender who had the highest number of goals of that season so far."However, according to Mackey, Higgins' reaction suggests the royal hadn't got the slightest notion who Coleman was, or that it was a significant achievement to be the highest scoring defender in the Premier League. "The wry smile with which he relates the anecdote suggests that, perhaps, the significance of the stat was somewhat lost on Prince Philip." We'd imagine Phil is more of a hunting fan anyway. Higgins also revealed in the interview how he broke state protocol for Jon Walters.