May 24, 2011Special, Indeed Obama Tends to US-Britain Bond
In the splendor of Buckingham Palace and even a fast game of table tennis with British kids, President Barack Obama spent a full day of his European tour on Tuesday tending to and underlining the importance of U.S. relations with England. Along the way, baby boomers Barack and Michelle Obama cemented their deepening friendship with the 85-year-old queen.
In toasting Queen Elizabeth II at only the second state dinner the British have ever thrown for an American president, Obama called her "a living witness to the power of our alliance and a chief source of its resilience."
The queen, in turn, described the relationship between the two countries as "tried, tested and, yes, special."
Tuesday's state visit was all about images-with-a-message before Obama delves into the gritty details of foreign policy with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the last day of his visit to England, and makes an address to Parliament reassuring Europe about its place in American foreign policy. At the same time, the president kept one eye on the devastating Midwest tornadoes at home, scheduling a Sunday visit to Missouri as soon as he returns from his four-nation tour of Europe.
In the formality and ceremony of the president's state visit in London — and in the unscripted personal moments that played out within that framework — Obama was working to shore up the U.S. relationship with Britain and to further his efforts to see Western allies shoulder a greater share of the burden in addressing trouble spots around the globe.
Tuesday was a day for over-the-top pomp: Not just a 21-gun salute, but a 41-gun salute at the palace (20 extras because the shots were fired from a royal park) and an additional 62-gun salute from the Tower of London (21 bonus booms because they were fired within the city of London, palace officials explained).
As a special treat, the Obamas had a chance to meet newlyweds Prince William and new wife Kate, who came down from Wales for what one palace spokesman called "a bit of a chin wag." The couples had a morning visit, but the newlyweds didn't stay for dinner.
High-powered ceremony was deployed at every turn:
—In the formal welcome in the sunshine of the West Terrace, where Obama and the Duke of Edinburgh reviewed the troops of the Scots Guard.
—In a solemn wreath-laying at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey.
—In the gilded state dinner, with its royal procession into the ballroom and a menu including Agneau de la Nouvelle Saison de Windsor au Basilic (seasonal lamb).
Michelle Obama, her clothes always a source of worldwide fascination, turned up at the state dinner wearing a high fashion white gown by Tom Ford with a crisscross halter neckline and fitted waist with a self-tie bow.
Celebrities Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Tim Burton, and Helena Bonham-Carter added luster to the list of invited guests.
On Wednesday, the president's Europe tour, which began with a friendly visit to Ireland, pivots to focus on a thicket of foreign policy challenges.
Obama is scheduled to meet with Cameron to discuss security issues including Afghanistan, the Arab Spring and counterterrorism. The two also are expected to discuss the NATO-led bombing campaign in Libya, and ways the U.S. and Britain can boost assistance to rebels opposing longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The cooperation between the U.S. and Europe over Libya underscores the critical nature of America's relationship with its longstanding allies, Obama aide Ben Rhodes said Tuesday. Obama will emphasize that point in a speech to both houses of British Parliament on Wednesday, aimed at reassuring Europe of its place in American foreign policy, even as strategic alliances emerge with other regions.
For all the formality of the state visit, there were signs everywhere of the growing warmth between the Obamas and the queen.
Palace aides described Elizabeth as closely involved in preparations for the visit and happy to have the Obamas come for a two-night sleepover. Before the Obamas emerged on the palace back lawn for the formal arrival ceremony, the queen and her husband personally showed them around their suite of rooms, last occupied by Prince William and his wife on their wedding day.
After a private luncheon, the queen arranged a display for the Obamas of historical items from the palace collection that would be of particular interest to them, including books and relics from early Hawaii, and photos and details about the Resolute desk, a gift from Britain that now serves as the president's desk in the Oval Office.
The couples chatted easily as they toured the exhibit, Obama jokingly calling the Resolute desk "a pretty good deal" for the United States.
In his dinner remarks, Obama told the queen he brought greetings from daughters Sasha and Malia, "who adored you even before you let them ride on a carriage on the palace grounds" during a visit in 2009.
The Obamas struck a highly personal note in their gift for the queen, giving her a selection of memorabilia and photographs from her parents' 1939 visit to the United States. The queen is said to have been very close to her parents.
The queen took special care, too, in her gift choices, providing the president with a collection of letters from the Royal Archives to and from past U.S. presidents and English monarchs. For Mrs. Obama, there was an antique brooch with coral roses.
Even as the Obamas bonded with the queen, there was a parallel effort afoot to build ties with Cameron, whose help Obama will need on an array of issues.
After the president made a courtesy call to the prime minister at 10 Downing Street, Cameron jumped in the motorcade with Obama and the two visited a local school, where they played table tennis with youngsters. The two world leaders didn't lack for enthusiasm — even if the boys seemed to get the best of them — rolling up their shirt sleeves and swapping high fives when points went their way.
Obama even offered a few excuses when his partner lost more than a few points for the US-UK dream team.
"Tennis is his game," Obama explained for Cameron.
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Obama/2011/05/24/id/397598
In toasting Queen Elizabeth II at only the second state dinner the British have ever thrown for an American president, Obama called her "a living witness to the power of our alliance and a chief source of its resilience."
The queen, in turn, described the relationship between the two countries as "tried, tested and, yes, special."
Tuesday's state visit was all about images-with-a-message before Obama delves into the gritty details of foreign policy with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the last day of his visit to England, and makes an address to Parliament reassuring Europe about its place in American foreign policy. At the same time, the president kept one eye on the devastating Midwest tornadoes at home, scheduling a Sunday visit to Missouri as soon as he returns from his four-nation tour of Europe.
In the formality and ceremony of the president's state visit in London — and in the unscripted personal moments that played out within that framework — Obama was working to shore up the U.S. relationship with Britain and to further his efforts to see Western allies shoulder a greater share of the burden in addressing trouble spots around the globe.
Tuesday was a day for over-the-top pomp: Not just a 21-gun salute, but a 41-gun salute at the palace (20 extras because the shots were fired from a royal park) and an additional 62-gun salute from the Tower of London (21 bonus booms because they were fired within the city of London, palace officials explained).
As a special treat, the Obamas had a chance to meet newlyweds Prince William and new wife Kate, who came down from Wales for what one palace spokesman called "a bit of a chin wag." The couples had a morning visit, but the newlyweds didn't stay for dinner.
High-powered ceremony was deployed at every turn:
—In the formal welcome in the sunshine of the West Terrace, where Obama and the Duke of Edinburgh reviewed the troops of the Scots Guard.
—In a solemn wreath-laying at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey.
—In the gilded state dinner, with its royal procession into the ballroom and a menu including Agneau de la Nouvelle Saison de Windsor au Basilic (seasonal lamb).
Michelle Obama, her clothes always a source of worldwide fascination, turned up at the state dinner wearing a high fashion white gown by Tom Ford with a crisscross halter neckline and fitted waist with a self-tie bow.
Celebrities Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Tim Burton, and Helena Bonham-Carter added luster to the list of invited guests.
On Wednesday, the president's Europe tour, which began with a friendly visit to Ireland, pivots to focus on a thicket of foreign policy challenges.
Obama is scheduled to meet with Cameron to discuss security issues including Afghanistan, the Arab Spring and counterterrorism. The two also are expected to discuss the NATO-led bombing campaign in Libya, and ways the U.S. and Britain can boost assistance to rebels opposing longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
The cooperation between the U.S. and Europe over Libya underscores the critical nature of America's relationship with its longstanding allies, Obama aide Ben Rhodes said Tuesday. Obama will emphasize that point in a speech to both houses of British Parliament on Wednesday, aimed at reassuring Europe of its place in American foreign policy, even as strategic alliances emerge with other regions.
For all the formality of the state visit, there were signs everywhere of the growing warmth between the Obamas and the queen.
Palace aides described Elizabeth as closely involved in preparations for the visit and happy to have the Obamas come for a two-night sleepover. Before the Obamas emerged on the palace back lawn for the formal arrival ceremony, the queen and her husband personally showed them around their suite of rooms, last occupied by Prince William and his wife on their wedding day.
After a private luncheon, the queen arranged a display for the Obamas of historical items from the palace collection that would be of particular interest to them, including books and relics from early Hawaii, and photos and details about the Resolute desk, a gift from Britain that now serves as the president's desk in the Oval Office.
The couples chatted easily as they toured the exhibit, Obama jokingly calling the Resolute desk "a pretty good deal" for the United States.
In his dinner remarks, Obama told the queen he brought greetings from daughters Sasha and Malia, "who adored you even before you let them ride on a carriage on the palace grounds" during a visit in 2009.
The Obamas struck a highly personal note in their gift for the queen, giving her a selection of memorabilia and photographs from her parents' 1939 visit to the United States. The queen is said to have been very close to her parents.
The queen took special care, too, in her gift choices, providing the president with a collection of letters from the Royal Archives to and from past U.S. presidents and English monarchs. For Mrs. Obama, there was an antique brooch with coral roses.
Even as the Obamas bonded with the queen, there was a parallel effort afoot to build ties with Cameron, whose help Obama will need on an array of issues.
After the president made a courtesy call to the prime minister at 10 Downing Street, Cameron jumped in the motorcade with Obama and the two visited a local school, where they played table tennis with youngsters. The two world leaders didn't lack for enthusiasm — even if the boys seemed to get the best of them — rolling up their shirt sleeves and swapping high fives when points went their way.
Obama even offered a few excuses when his partner lost more than a few points for the US-UK dream team.
"Tennis is his game," Obama explained for Cameron.
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Obama/2011/05/24/id/397598
__May 25, 2011__
Barack Obama State visit: Royal Family invites Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to banquet
The Royal family held out an olive branch to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown last night by inviting them to the State banquet with President Obama after controversially leaving them off the guest list for the royal wedding last month
The former prime ministers, who attended with their wives, joined John Major and his wife Norma on a list of guests who had been issued with “special invitations” by the Royal household.
The build-up to the royal wedding had been partially overshadowed by the row over the decision not to invite the former Labour premiers, when ambassadors representing tyrannical regimes including Libya were originally on the guest list for Westminster Abbey.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said “all former prime ministers who were well enough to attend” had been invited to the State banquet. Baroness Thatcher, who turned down an invitation to the royal wedding, was not at the dinner.
The Palace’s ballroom, where the Prince of Wales hosted a private dinner for 300 guests on the evening of the royal wedding, was the setting for a sumptuous dinner of sole, lamb champagne and fine wines.
Among the 170 guests were the film stars Tom Hanks, who sat next to Ffion Hague, the wife of the Foreign Secretary, Kevin Spacey, who was beside the Countess of Wessex, and the director Tim Burton.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, found himself sitting between Helena Bonham Carter, the actress and wife of Mr Burton, and Princess Michael of Kent.
In a room dominated by a pipe organ at one end, with a throne at the other, which is used for investiture ceremonies, the diners sat around tables arranged in a giant U-shape, with six crystal glasses per person and gold-plated cutlery.
Mr Obama sat between the Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall on the top table, with Mrs Obama between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales. David Cameron sat at one corner, next to Hillary Clinton.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who had met the Obamas earlier in the day, did not attend the banquet, as the Queen’s grandchildren were not on the guest list.
Members of the Cabinet at the white tie event included Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, George Osborne and Ken Clarke, together with their wives. The Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine Thornton, and the Speaker, John Bercow, and his wife Sally were also present.
Richard Branson, the Barclays boss Bob Diamond and Sir Martin Sorrell were among the City figures at the table, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
They were serenaded by an eclectic mixture of music played by the Band of the Scots Guards, including Swing o’the Kilt, South Pacific, Bach’s Air on a G String and a selection from My Fair Lady.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8534400/Barack-Obama-State-visit-Royal-Family-invites-Tony-Blair-and-Gordon-Brown-to-banquet.html
