Word: queens
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...phones as he spoke. He charmed them by giving real consideration to journalists' questions. He wouldn't say when he thought the hard times would end, but he urged sensible financial planning ("Basing decisions around fear is not the right way to go"). He also said he loved the Queen - he and the First Lady will meet the monarch ahead of a grand get-together at Buckingham Palace for all G-20 leaders on the eve of the summit. "Michelle has really been thinking [the royal meeting] through," he quipped. (See pictures of Michelle Obama's fashion...
...rules are set in stone, and so the eagerly watching British media sputtered when the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, briefly put her hand on the back of Queen Elizabeth II as the two chatted at a reception. Etiquette is quite stern about this ("Whatever you do, don't touch the Queen!"). In 2000 John Howard, then Prime Minister of Australia, got plenty of criticism for apparently putting his arm around the Queen to direct her through a crowd. He denied actually touching her, but photographs suggest that he came quite close. (Another former Australian Prime Minister...
...course, there are corollaries to this. One must certainly touch the Queen if the monarch offers her hand (though you should return this not with a firm handshake but just a touch). On Wednesday, Michelle Obama put her hand on the Queen only after the Queen had placed her own hand on the First Lady's back as part of their conversation. So there is room for theological argument as to whether the American reciprocity of touch was allowable given the social dynamics of the situation. (Less explicable was when President George W. Bush winked at the Queen.) Still...
Another defense for Michelle Obama, of course, is that she is not a subject of the Queen. (Australians, despite referendums attempting to turn themselves into a republic, still recognize the Queen as their head of state.) The First Lady of the United States is not required to curtsey before her or any other crowned head. In any case, the touch lasted just a second or two, and the Queen did not seem particularly perturbed - though she appeared slightly surprised as she drew away. (See how Barack Obama is connected to the Queen via TIME's Person of the Year...
...times is a coincidence, but three times makes a trend, so Obama will have to be careful about his gift-giving in Europe. On Saturday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs declined a British reporter's request to disclose the gift the President will give to Queen Elizabeth II. "We don't want to give away all of our good news," said Gibbs, raising the stakes even higher. Indeed gifts are not the only petty detail that can soil an international relationship. The British press has also harped on the fact that Obama once referred to the "special partnership" between Britain...