The Queen’s accession to the throne in 1952 coincided with the birth of the age of commercial jet travel, enabling her to become by far the most widely travelled head of state in history.

In more than six decades her tally of countries has exceeded 120, and all without a passport – because all British passports are issued in her name, she does not need one. As head of the Commonwealth she has covered every corner of the old Empire and the other principal realms where she remains head of state, Canada and Australia, have each received more than a dozen visits. She is Britain’s foremost diplomatic weapon.

But there are a few significant gaps in her map of the world, including one on her own doorstep. No British monarch has visited Dublin since King George V arrived there in full state shortly after his Coronation in 1911. Then, of course, it was still his. For decades after the 1916 uprising no British sovereign would have dared to show his or her face in what would eventually become the Republic of Ireland.

As the London and Dublin governments drew closer in their efforts to solve the Northern Ireland problem, however, the atmosphere softened considerably. During the late 1990s the prospect of a state visit was revived, and the Prince of Wales even made a four-day visit – a recognised precursor to the sovereign making a full state visit.

The Prince was received with great warmth by the Taoiseach then, John Bruton, and by the people of Dublin, who turned out in large numbers. There was one demonstration, when republicans staged a peaceful march through the city. The only incident was the throwing of an egg in the vague direction of the Prince, although the Irish media insisted that it was a potato. The peace process was somewhat derailed in succeeding years, and a visit by his mother was returned to the backburner. But, with the Ulster question now largely resolved, the Queen in O’Connell Street is again a real possibility.

She has dutifully made her way round most of the rest of the EU, but there is one other exception. She has never been to Greece, which in 1921 exiled her husband’s father, and whose junta of colonels in the 1960s took against their last king, Constantine. He now lives in London and is a close friend of the Royal Family.

Times change, and there might be a royal visit to Athens one day, just as there was to postcommunist Moscow. The original invitation came from Mikhail Gorbachev during a visit to London, but the Queen held off until the Bolsheviks who murdered Tsar Nicholas and his family were safely out of power.

One other prominent country remains unvisited by the Queen. Israel continues to be regarded as too much of a security risk, although the Duke of Edinburgh has made private visits to the grave of his mother, who sheltered Greek Jews during the Second World War and is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Matters of state

— State visits are those paid to a nation of which the Queen is not head of state. Her host will usually be her counterpart: a monarch or president

— Royal visits are those paid to countries of which the Queen is head of state. She will be received by a representative of the Crown and prominent local leaders

— Commonwealth heads of government and other Commonwealth meetings are where the Queen meets other Commonwealth leaders

— Commonwealth and Olympic visits are attendances at sporting events which do not require a reception by a head of state unless the Queen stays on after the Games

— Refuelling, overnight and private visits also do not require a formal royal reception

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