The Queen will be making her fifth state visit to Germany in more than 60 years on the throne this week, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she’s looking forward to what she describes as always a “big event” for the country.

But will the thorny subject of the UK’s referendum on the EU come up? Conversations with the Queen are supposed to remain private, and so of course the German government is remaining tight-lipped about whether two of the world’s most powerful women will broach the subject – here’s a piece I wrote for the Daily Telegraph on the forthcoming visit this week.