05-08-2007, 03:14 AM
Dubya strikes again.
(CBS News) WASHINGTON Washington turned out adoring schoolchildren and ladies in hats for Queen Elizabeth II's visit. The White House, too, laid on special touches at President Bush's first-ever white-tie state dinner to honor America's closest ally and make the queen feel welcome.
The centuries-old vermeil flatware and candelabras came from a London silversmith. A made-of-sugar replica of the queen's 1953 coronation rose graced the cake. English farmhouse cheeses accompanied the salad course.
And the traditional "special guest" invited only at the last minute was sure to be of interest to an avid horse enthusiast such as the queen: Calvin Borel, the jockey who rode Street Sense to victory in the Kentucky Derby this weekend with the royals in attendance.
"It's just like winning the Kentucky Derby — it might even be better," Borel said as he arrived for the dinner.
On the other hand, there was the president suggesting Queen Elizabeth was over 230 years old.
The president's slip of the tongue during morning welcoming speeches was inadvertent, of course, and quickly smoothed over with humor. But it wasn't exactly the flawless effort Bush had hoped would erase memories of the "talking hat" episode during the queen's last U.S. visit. (In 1991, during Bush's father's administration, a too-tall lectern left the audience able to see only the queen's hat behind microphones.)
The queen, a sprightly 81, gave an embarrassed Bush a gracious nod after he suggested she had celebrated the United States' founding in 1776. He meant to say she had attended 1976 bicentennial festivities.
(CBS News) WASHINGTON Washington turned out adoring schoolchildren and ladies in hats for Queen Elizabeth II's visit. The White House, too, laid on special touches at President Bush's first-ever white-tie state dinner to honor America's closest ally and make the queen feel welcome.
The centuries-old vermeil flatware and candelabras came from a London silversmith. A made-of-sugar replica of the queen's 1953 coronation rose graced the cake. English farmhouse cheeses accompanied the salad course.
And the traditional "special guest" invited only at the last minute was sure to be of interest to an avid horse enthusiast such as the queen: Calvin Borel, the jockey who rode Street Sense to victory in the Kentucky Derby this weekend with the royals in attendance.
"It's just like winning the Kentucky Derby — it might even be better," Borel said as he arrived for the dinner.
On the other hand, there was the president suggesting Queen Elizabeth was over 230 years old.
The president's slip of the tongue during morning welcoming speeches was inadvertent, of course, and quickly smoothed over with humor. But it wasn't exactly the flawless effort Bush had hoped would erase memories of the "talking hat" episode during the queen's last U.S. visit. (In 1991, during Bush's father's administration, a too-tall lectern left the audience able to see only the queen's hat behind microphones.)
The queen, a sprightly 81, gave an embarrassed Bush a gracious nod after he suggested she had celebrated the United States' founding in 1776. He meant to say she had attended 1976 bicentennial festivities.
