The State visit to Britain is the highlight of any Presidential term of office.’
So said Ronald Reagan, US President from 1981-1989, and his words have been echoed by several of his fellow Presidents. Gerald Ford, who served from 1974 to 1977, told me, after dancing with Her Majesty to the tune Getting To Know You: ‘It sure was a long way from my origins in Omaha, Nebraska.’
Every year since she came to the throne in 1952, the Queen has invited two heads of State to stay at either Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. This week, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will fly into London for a two-day visit.
Serene: The chief reception room of the Belgian Suite on the ground floor of the front garden where President Obama and his wife Michelle will reside during their State visit"
At Buckingham Palace, after their ceremonial welcome followed by the mandatory carriage drive along the flag-bedecked Mall, President Obama and the First Lady will be given the use of the Belgian Suite on the ground floor at the rear of the Palace.
Named after King Leopold I of the Belgians – Queen Victoria’s favourite uncle who wouldn’t sleep anywhere else – it was occupied by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for some months in the early days of her reign, and both Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were born there.
The three principal rooms of the suite are furnished in a style that gives the visiting head of State an idea of how British Royalty lived in previous centuries. Yellow is the predominant colour in the main 18th Century Room, and among the Royal portraits are three-quarter-length paintings of King George III and Queen Charlotte, while works by Canaletto stand alongside one of Gainsborough’s most famous paintings, Diana And Actaeon.
President and Mrs Obama will sleep in the blue Orleans Bedroom, with two canopied beds and no fewer than three pictures of a previous Royal hostess, Queen Victoria.
The Spanish Room is the third and smallest of the apartments, and if the Obamas bring their children, this is where they will sleep. Otherwise, it is used as a dressing room. Two paintings of Napoleon Bonaparte hang in this room – one showing him crossing the Alps, the other during his final years of captivity on the island of St Helena.
Scene is set: The Ballroom will host the State banquet, where the Queen is the star and every guest wears 'every rock in the book'
Legend has it that his body is buried in the Palace gardens. More recently, several Middle Eastern potentates have insisted on their bodyguards sleeping across the doorway, while one, who brought his own chef, ordered him to cook his food on an open fire in the middle of the suite.
A compromise was reached when a stone-flagged section of the kitchen was made available.
As the perfect hostess, the Queen goes to considerable lengths to make sure her guests are comfortable, finding out their likes and dislikes in advance.
For the Obamas’ visit, members of the Royal Household have liaised with their opposite numbers at the White House to find out what sort of books the President and his wife prefer (brand new hardbacks, never paperbacks), their favourite flowers, and the brand of toiletries they require.
Her Majesty realises how difficult it can be for some visitors to adapt to the protocol of the Court, so she attaches two of her most trusted and experienced aides to the incoming entourage. An equerry will be there to deal with any problems, while a lady-in-waiting will be on hand to assist Mrs Obama.
In addition, two liveried footmen will sit outside the Belgian Suite all night in case the Obamas need anything. And once the preparations are complete, the Queen makes a personal tour of inspection before her guests arrive.
We'll meet again: US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle pose for photographs with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during an audience at Buckingham Palace back in 2009"
The highlight of any visit is the State banquet held in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace. It is a sheer theatrical production with the Queen as the star and every guest wearing, as a former head of State put it, ‘every rock in the book’.
The preparations are incredible; the huge dining table, measuring 160ft and taking six men three hours to assemble in a horseshoe shape, is so wide the only way to maintain its sheen is to have footmen shuffling over it with dusters covering their stockinged feet. The Palace Steward has responsibility for the solid gold cutlery: 1,350 knives, forks and spoons and 850 crystal glasses (five for each of the 170 guests – sherry, white wine, red wine, champagne and water).
Helping hand: Michelle Obama will again get to chat with the Queen during the State visit"
President George Bush Snr said a booklet given to everyone to explain what was happening proved helpful. ‘It not only gave us the menu and wine list but also the complete seating plan with every name on it and where they were sitting and also the programme of music being played by the orchestra in the minstrels’ gallery. It was a nice touch.’
President Obama will be told in advance that only he and the Queen will be expected to make speeches (and that they should not exceed nine minutes). Prince Philip has been known to make his feelings all too clear if he thinks there is too much talk.
But even at a State banquet things have occasionally gone wrong. In the early days of the Queen’s reign, one of the guests was the actress Beatrice Lillie (Lady Peel). After a nervous footman spilled gravy on her brand new Paris gown, she came up with what is regarded at the Palace as the best one-liner ever heard: ‘I will thank you never to darken my Dior again.’
After George and Barbara Bush were guests at a State banquet in July 1991, Mrs Bush recalled the evening: ‘It was every little girl’s dream . . . we were met in the Blue Drawing Room by the Queen. She looked lovely in a yellow silk gown . . . at the banquet I sat next to Prince Philip. The minute he
was served, down goes the food and then his plate is whisked away . . . so was everyone else’s, finished or not.’ Palace ‘old-timers’ are aware of this and eat as quickly as possible.
President and Mrs Bush have remained friends with the Queen since leaving office and sometimes see them if they visit London. On one occasion, the President picked up a small, three-legged silver dish of unusual shape and asked the Queen what it was for. She replied: ‘I was hoping you could tell me. You gave it to me.’
President Bush admitted that his head of protocol had chosen his present – ‘but I still should have been warned’. The Queen doesn’t have the same problem. Her gift is always the same: a signed photograph of herself and the Duke of Edinburgh. President Obama will also be given an award by the Queen.
George Bush was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath but had to sign an agreement that the ‘Collar’ (worth £50,000) accompanying the award would be returned on his death.
Barbara Bush said later that the entertainment at the Palace ‘out-Disneyed Disney and Her Majesty gave us a storybook ending’.
Meanwhile President Bush said: ‘When it comes to hospitality, nobody does it better than the Queen. It was a visit to remember.’
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