London: President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama were welcomed to Buckingham Palace in grand royal style yesterday by Queen Elizabeth II as they began their official state visit to Britain, a rare honour for a US president.
The queen and her husband Prince Philip greeted the Obamas on a sunny, windy afternoon in London. Following a private tour of the palace, the two couples emerged on the ceremonial steps of the West Terrace for a 41-gun salute.
The queen, dressed in a powder blue suit and matching hat, stood with the president, as ranks of Scots Guards in red jackets and tall hats played the Star-Spangled Banner in honour of the American president and his wife.
Gun salute
A longer 62-gun salute at the Tower of London could be heard throughout the city, heralding the Obamas' arrival.
The Obamas will spend two nights at the palace as guests of the queen, staying in a six-room suite last used by Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding night. The newlyweds had a brief, private meeting with the Obamas yesterday before the ceremony, but they were not expected to attend a lavish banquet being held in the Obamas' honour last night.
The Obamas were to lunch privately with the queen, then head to London's famous Westminster Abbey for a wreath laying.
The president and first lady began the day greeted by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla at Winfield House, the stately mansion in Regent's Park that is the residence of the US ambassador.
The Obamas stayed there Monday night after leaving Ireland early instead of spending the night in Dublin because of safety concerns over a volcanic ash cloud being blown toward Britain from Iceland.
There was no avoiding domestic issues, either. From Europe Obama was monitoring fallout from the massive tornado that struck Missouri, and before meeting the queen he announced plans to tour the damage on Sunday after he returns to the States.
Prickly foreign policy
While Obama will tackle prickly foreign policy matters in the coming days, the opening rounds of his four-country European tour are all about the personal politics that made him so beloved on this continent as a presidential candidate and in the early days of his term in office.
While in Ireland, Obama embraced the touch of Irish in his family history, drinking a pint of Guinness with a distant cousin in the hamlet of Moneygall and delivering a rousing speech on the ties between the United States and Ireland before tens of thousands crammed into the centre of Dublin.
Royal watchers say the queen has taken a liking to the Obamas ever since meeting the couple during their 2009 visit to London.
Obama to visit Sunday
President Barack Obama said he will travel to Missouri on Sunday to meet with people affected by the devastating tornadoes there. The president said he wants Midwesterners whose lives were upended by the deadly storms last weekend to know that the federal government will use all the resources at its disposal to help them recover and rebuild. Obama is in the midst of a six-day Europe trip, but the White House wants to make clear he's staying on top of the tragedy at home, where more than 100 people were killed in the Missouri town of Joplin when a monster twister hit Sunday.
A hospital and countless homes and businesses were destroyed, and more storms, possibly strong ones, are on the horizon. "I want everybody in Joplin, everybody in Missouri, everybody in Minnesota, everybody across the Midwest to know that we are here for you," the president said in London on day two of his four-country tour.
