After reading the thread, I’ve finally watched the video. I can’t believe the way Michelle moved in front of Prince Philip.

INC on April 1, 2009 at 7:14 PM

I also had a couple of other thoughts.

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of England when Elizabeth became Queen. I wonder what she thought of Obama returning the bust of Churchill?

Do any of you remember this?

After 9/11, Queen Elizabeth, Britain and Australia’s head of state, ordered the playing of American patriotic songs at Buckingham Palace. At St. Paul’s Cathedral, she sang, for the first time in her life, a foreign national anthem–”The Star-Spangled Banner.”

At the service at St. Paul’s:

The Queen does not sing National Anthems. As Head of State, she stands with lips firmly closed on such occasions. Nor does The Queen show emotion in public. As Britain’s Head of State, she maintains a legendary ’stiff upper lip’. People are not encouraged to wave National flags during worship in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Friday changed all that. The Queen sang America’s National Anthem and later when she led the congregation in singing the rousing Battle hymn of the Republic, (last heard beneath the dome of St. Paul’s at the 1965 funeral of our great Anglo-American Knight of the Garter, Sir Winston Churchill), she wept.

The Coldstream Guards at Buckingham Palace play the Star Spangled Banner on September 12, 2001.

And Obama marks the relationship between our countries with an iPod??????

INC on April 1, 2009 at 7:31 PM

Better days:

Bush and Queen Celebrate Common Values

The Queen:

“A state visit provides us with a brief opportunity to step back from our current preoccupations to reflect on the very essence of our relationship,” she said. “It gives us a chance to look back at how the stories of our two countries have been inextricably woven together. It is a moment to take stock of our present friendship, rightly taking pleasure from its strengths, while never taking these for granted. And it is a time to look forward, jointly renewing our commitment to a more prosperous, safer and freer world.”

INC on April 1, 2009 at 7:33 PM

The Queen may not publicly state her preferences, but what she does is significant. I also remembered this from last summer:

WINDSOR CASTLE, England Twenty-six years after Ronald Reagan rode horses here with Queen Elizabeth II, President Bush flew to Windsor Castle outside London on Sunday for a quick visit with England’s reigning monarch.

Bush and first lady Laura Bush had sandwiches, cake and, of course, afternoon tea with the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, marking only the second time that Elizabeth has invited a U.S. leader to her favorite official residence.

Elizabeth, 82, has met every U.S. president except Lyndon B. Johnson since her reign began in 1952. Unlike Reagan’s visit to Windsor, which included an overnight stay, Bush’s stop was not considered an official state visit, British officials said.

But since the queen usually receives heads of state at Buckingham Palace in London, any invitation to Windsor is considered special, royal staffers said.

The Queen must have really liked Reagan! :-)

INC on April 1, 2009 at 7:41 PM