By Tamara Jones and Roxanne Roberts
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Queen Elizabeth II arrived at the White House yesterday for the grand finale to a visit that's whirled from history to horse racing to high society with barely enough time for a spot of tea and a cucumber sandwich between.
Hugs from schoolchildren, a private luncheon, a garden party and the Bush administration's first white-tie state dinner kept the queen changing hats and offering polite greetings most of the day and well into the evening.
Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, arrived at the White House to greet an estimated 7,000 dignitaries, legislators, Cabinet members and invited guests on the South Lawn on a blossom-fresh spring day.
President Bush welcomed the queen with a royal faux pas about her age, suggesting she had witnessed American independence in 1776. Expressing admiration for her long friendship with the United States, Bush noted that Elizabeth had dined with 10 presidents and had "helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 . . ." He quickly caught and corrected his mistake, "in 1976."
Her Majesty did not appear to be amused.
Laughter rippled across the South Lawn, but the queen, who celebrated her 81st birthday last month, shot Bush a look that he sheepishly acknowledged "only a mother could give a child."
It wasn't his only comeuppance of the day.
Laura Bush acknowledged she and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had tag-teamed Bush to coax him into white tie for the White House's most formal dinner of his presidency.
"Dr. Rice and I took it upon ourselves to talk him into it, because we thought if we were ever going to have a white-tie event, this would be the one," Mrs. Bush told reporters.
The 134 guests invited to the gala included a handful of American football luminaries but none of the soccer-mad British variety. No Hollywood stars, either -- an unusual omission for state dinners. Scoring a last-minute invitation was winning Kentucky Derby jockey Calvin Borel, cheered across the finish line Saturday by the queen in white gloves and coral-beribboned hat. (Horse racing is listed on the British Embassy's Web site as one of the queen's official hobbies, along with Scottish country-dancing.)
Throughout the day, official remarks ricocheted between gravitas and gaiety, the president soberly referring to terrorism, the first lady extolling spun-sugar flowers, the queen talking high-tech.
"I particularly look forward in the next two days to seeing at firsthand something of how the cutting edge of science and technology can take us to the next phases of discovery and exploration in human endeavor," the queen said in her prepared remarks. Her itinerary today includes a stop at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and a private dinner with the Bushes' before she heads home to London tonight.
As the queen and Bush appeared outside the White House, hundreds of spectators flung their arms skyward, pointing digital cameras in her general direction.
In the crowd, Ann Jones, 52, of Greenville, Miss., debated the color of the monarch's hat with those around her. It was hard to see over heads from their vantage point, but an accommodating 6-foot-4 high school student used his video camera to give all a better view. Yellow, some said, definitely yellow. No, white, others disagreed. No, no, the hat is blue!
The hat, in fact, was black and white, with a big flower pinned to the front.
In his remarks, Bush sought to emphasize the British government's support of his administration in Iraq and elsewhere. "Today our two nations are defending liberty against tyranny and terror," he said. "We're resisting those who murder the innocent to advance a hateful ideology, whether they kill in New York or London or Kabul or Baghdad."
Speaking after Bush, Elizabeth said her visit to Jamestown last week to mark the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English colony in North America had given her "new insight" into this country's foundation.
The party then headed into the White House for a private lunch that included wild asparagus veloute, seared baby sea bass and raspberry meringue.
"It was just a family, relaxing luncheon," Laura Bush later reported, noting that two presidential siblings, Dorothy and Marvin, were there along with Sir David Manning, the British ambassador to Washington. There was no word on whether Elizabeth, who herself owns 14 dogs, had made the acquaintance of four-legged Bush family members Barney and Miss Beazley.
Afterward, the Bushes accompanied the royal couple across the street to their guest quarters at Blair House, stopping along the way for an unannounced appearance before 369 squealing elementary and middle school children from the IDEA charter school and the British School in the District.
"Oh my God! Ahhhhhh!" shrieked 14-year-old eighth-grader Shayla Young, faking a swoon after giving the president a tight hug. The queen accepted flowers and signed autographs for the youngsters.
Later in the afternoon, Manning and his wife, Lady Catherine, hosted a garden party for the queen at the British Embassy, where Elizabeth did not stop to smell the abundant roses but stood on AstroTurf to receive visitors beneath a huge white tent.
Guests appeared to opt for the Pol Roger champagne over the Earl Grey tea while nibbling cucumber sandwiches, scones with blackcurrant jam, and chocolate and raspberry tarts. The Regimental Band of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards played the James Bond theme as well as "Rule, Britannia."
Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser waited with his partner, Branden Wallace, who wore a kilt. Radio talk-show host Diane Rehm wore a huge hat to distract attention from the cast on her broken ankle. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters it would be "presumptuous" of her to repeat what the queen said during their brief conversation.
The queen wore pearls and a diamond brooch with her hot-pink coat, hat and black patent shoes, appearing now and then like a bright fuchsia dot in the crowd out on the lawn before returning to the tent, where Wallace caught the royal eye with his kilt.
"Well done," she told him.
Staff writer Steve Vogel contributed to this report.
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