Buckingham Palace welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle on Tuesday, where the couple met with Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge William and Kate. An invitation to the palace is a rare honor for a U.S. president, the Associated Press notes.
The Obamas were greeted by Queen Elizabeth and her husband, where the two couples received a 41-gun salute on the ceremonial steps of the West Terrace. Afterward, the President and his wife laid a wreath at West Minster Abbey and heard the Choir of Westminster Abbey sing.
The couple met with Prince William and Kate Middleton briefly before their arrival in the 1844 room of the palace. The greeting was the first royal duties of the couple since the wedding, and the couples reportedly discussed the royal wedding and the Duke and Duchess’s upcoming trip to California in July.
This is only the second official state visit by a U.S. president to the palace, according to Buckingham officials. Royal watchers attribute this to the supposed favor in which the queen has held the Obamas since their first meeting in London in 2009. During that visit, Michelle Obama wrapped her arm around the queen—considered a breech of protocol—and shocked onlookers were further surprised when the queen responded by putting a friendly arm around Mrs. Obama’s waist.
The Obamas will spend two nights at Buckingham Palace in the suite of rooms last used by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their wedding night. The visit comes as part of a four-country European tour in which Obama will speak on the foreign policy issues that made him so popular on the continent during his first presidential campaign.
