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the US first family.
The Obamas will arrive here tomorrow as part of a European tour and will visit the queen, two years after they first met and shared an unusually public display of affection.
The 85-year-old monarch and the president’s wife were seen putting their arms around each other’s backs at Buckingham Palace in 2009, when the Obamas made their first visit to London after his election.
British newspapers debated whether Michelle Obama had breached strict royal protocol – but that extraordinary gesture now bodes well at a time when the so-called Anglo-US “special relationship” remains uncertain.
And later that year, Michelle and the couple’s two daughters, Sasha and Malia, made a private visit to Britain and were treated to more royal hospitality and a carriage ride across the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
Ahead of the visit, Obama spoke glowingly of the warm relationship which he and his wife enjoy with the queen and her husband Prince Philip.
“They are extraordinarily gracious people. They could not have been kinder to us,” the president told the BBC in an interview broadcast yesterday.
“And then, Michelle and the girls actually visited London again, and went to Buckingham Palace.
“She could not have been more charming and gracious to the girls. They actually had a chance to ride in the carriage on the grounds.
“I think what the Queen symbolises not just to Great Britain, but to the entire Commonwealth and obviously the entire world, is the best of England. And we’re very proud of her.”
For this, the first state visit to Britain by a US president since George W. Bush in 2003, no formality or pageantry will be spared by a monarchy that traces its history back more than 1 300 years.
The heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will personally meet the Obamas at Stan-sted Airport, north of London, on behalf of the queen on tomorrow. – AFP.