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r a slate grey sky, and within the relatively safe confines of
Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II yesterday offered US
President George W Bush a spectacular state welcome to Britain
complete with brass band, grenadier guards in bearskin hats and a
41-gun salute.
The 30-minute event in the forecourt of the queen's official London
residence was awash with pomp and circumstance.
It took place amid unprecedented security - with police snipers on
the palace rooftops and helicopters flying overhead - for the first
ever formal state visit to Britain by a US president.
Due to security concerns, Bush was denied one traditional feature
of a British state welcome - a ride with the queen down The Mall to
the palace in a horse-drawn Victorian carriage.
A 41-gun salute, fired at 10-second intervals by the Royal Horse
Artillery from nearby Green Park, thundered as Bush exited the
palace's swish Belgian Suite - where he and First Lady Laura Bush
had spent the night - and got into his own bomb-proof Cadillac
limousine.
It proceeded at a crawl's pace for all of 100 m to the palace
forecourt, rolling across specially-scattered red gravel, coming to
a halt in front of a marquee specially erected for the
occasion.
Bush, in a crisp suit and blue tie, and the first lady, wearing a
blue twin-suit, shook hands with the queen and her husband Prince
Philip, before they were introduced to Prime Minister Tony Blair
and other dignitaries.
They included Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Home Secretary David
Blunkett and Britain's military top brass.
A small group of demonstrators outside the palace gates shouted
their disapproval, but their efforts were drowned out by a military
band playing the US and British national anthems.
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Bush's national security
adviser, Condoleezza Rice, were among the VIPs seen in the Royal
Pavilion, whose twin turrets bedecked with the Stars and Stripes
looked like something out of Disneyland.
Powell, clearly enjoying the occasion, used a pocket-sized camera
to capture the occasion.
Bush appeared proud but awkward as he stood aside the queen,
herself dressed in a lilac coat and matching hat.
Prince Philip then escorted Bush on an inspection of the Guard of
Honour, made up of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who were
adorned in tall black bearskin hats and long grey coats.
The president then watched a ride past the dais by more than 100
members of the Household Cavalry on their gleaming black mounts and
wearing shiny gold breastplates and red or white tassels on their
decorative helmets.
Bush then went back into the palace to tour a palace display of
US-related royal memorabilia, including souveniers from Buffalo
Bill's trip to London in 1892 when he put on a Wild West show for
Queen Victoria. – Sapa-AFP.
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