And, of Course, Tea With the Queen

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.

The castle tour was one of the last stops on Bush's week-long trip to Europe, which took him to Slovenia, Germany, Italy and France before he landed in the United Kingdom on Sunday afternoon. He will be back at the White House late Monday after a visit to Belfast on the way home.

At Windsor Castle, the two couples walked briefly in front of the cameras in St. George's Hall, an ornate room lined with suits of armor and oil paintings of royal ancestors. Elizabeth, looking petite next to her guests and husband, wore a pink flowered dress, white shoes and pearls, and carried a white handbag.

Most of the short visit was behind closed doors, however, and not a word of conversation could be heard above the clicking of photo shutters in the hall. At one point, the group glanced at armor worn by King Henry VIII.

According to members of the royal staff, the queen showed the Bushes around several other grand rooms and apartments in the castle, including one drawing room stocked with photos, gifts and other knickknacks related to U.S. presidents. They included a silver bowl given by President George H.W. Bush, a photograph of Elizabeth riding with Reagan, and letters from President Franklin D. Roosevelt inviting the queen's mother, Eliza beth, to Washington in 1939.

The breathtaking Windsor Castle dates back 900 years, to Norman times, and ranks as the oldest occupied castle in the world, according to a royal family spokesman. Large parts of the castle were gutted by fire in 1992, including much of the area that the Bushes toured, but all was restored by 1997.

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.

After the tea and the tour, Bush and the first lady climbed into the presidential limousine and were ferried back to the Marine One helicopter, which carried them to London for meetings Sunday and Monday with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The total elapsed time for the visit was about an hour.

A Reflective President

Perhaps as a sign of the transatlantic cooperation that was the main theme of last week's trip, Bush gave interviews to quite a few foreign news organizations, including several that found him in a reflective mood.

In an interview with the Times of London, Bush conceded that he could have used less bluster in the months leading up to the Iraq war.