Queen Elizabeth To Be Feted On Rare Visit to the U.S.

[Virginia Dare]

She's putting the horses before the Chimp though...:rofl:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042400844.html

RICHMOND, April 24 -- Queen Elizabeth II will tour Virginia's newly renovated state Capitol and address a joint session of the General Assembly next Thursday as she kicks off a six-day U.S. visit, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) announced Tuesday.

The queen will be accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

A spokesman for the British Embassy said Tuesday that the queen is trying to determine a way to honor the Virginia Tech shooting victims while in the United States. "The palace is in discussion with the embassy and the governor's office over how this tragedy could be acknowledged during the queen's visit," said Steve Atkins, an embassy spokesman.

After touring the governor's mansion and state Capitol on May 3, the royal couple will take part in events surrounding the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. They will then attend the Kentucky Derby and spend two days in Washington, where a White House dinner will be held in their honor, according to Buckingham Palace

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Little Boots is skeered of horses

Too bad he can't accompany the Queen to the stables. Imagine the photo-op that would make...a high-spirited thoroughbred gets too close to Pissypants & he jumps back like it was a rattlesnake :rofl:

[madokie]

9. pissing and shitting down both legs

[HereSince1628]

2. I trust someone will show her the Virginia State motto...

[Captain Hilts]

3. Lilibet doesn't bear a grudge the way Pres. Bush does. She's okay.

I wish she was president.

[Virginia Dare]

5. The colonies were very good to her ancestors after all..

by the time we handed them their hat and showed them the door, their money had been made.

[Captain Hilts]

8. The English are still the Top foreign landowners in the US.

English own a large chunk of downtown DC. MacPherson Square and the area around there.

[Virginia Dare]

10. I did not realize that, I assumed it was the Saudis or the Chinese.

very interesting.

[Captain Hilts]

15. They came late to the game. And most folks don't think of the English as 'foreign' ...

in the same way.

[Virginia Dare]

4. Yeah, what was it that lost the colonies for the Brits?

something about the madness of King George?

[Captain Hilts]

7. The majority of colonists weren't that interested in independence.

Like the Bolsheviks, a motivated, organized minority prevailed.

For the better, I might add, even though my kin were on the Other Side back then.

[Virginia Dare]

12. True, most of them were probably still concentrating on survival..

we lucked out too in that we had a few brilliant and visionary men to lead us.

[lectrobyte]

6. That's just disgusting! Oh wait, you said "feted", never mind.

[shenmue]

11. I wish she would get a real job.

Stop wasting the taxpayers' money and work for a living, you rich old freak!

At least Prince Andrew was in the Navy!

[Virginia Dare]

13. Hey now, it's hard work being Queen...

almost as hard as Prezidentin.

[Captain Hilts]

14. Most of Liz's money is family money. She costs less than the Prez. costs us.

Phil, Charles, Andrew and Liz herself all served in the military.

She does a lot of the chickenshit stuff - opening bridges, state visits - that the PM would otherwise have to do.

It's kind of nice to have a non-partisan representative of your country. A tie to history, as it were. Though Liz supposedly bats more often from the left than right, and LOATHED Nancy Reagan and, evidently, does a great Nancy imitation.

[ElizabethDC]

16. Although her role is mostly symbolic

she does, in fact, do work for a living. She represents Britain at home and abroad and does a lot of charity work.

And, when it comes to wasting taxpayers' money, the royal family is actually a huge tourist draw for the UK, so they bring the UK plenty of income. And the Queen does pay taxes.

And speaking of the military, she served in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service during WWII.

[Virginia Dare]

17. The British people for the most part very much respected her actions..

during the War, thus why she remains relatively popular.

[ElizabethDC]

18. Yep, and I think she's a very large part of the reason why the monarchy is still around

I think many people still really respect her. The rest of the family? Not so much.

[roamer65]

19. If they skip Charles and go to William as king, the monarchy will live on.

If Charles is allowed to become king, that will be the end of the monarchy. But I think Elizabeth's reign will be longer than Victoria's. The Queen's mother lived to 100+ and I hope Elizabeth lives just as long.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. 'Allowed'? You appear to be talking about a 'constitutional' revolution in the UK

Not since 1715 has there been any 'choice' about the succession. Arguably, in 1936 there was - when the reigning Edward VIII abdicated under pressure, but then that also disqualified his possible descendants.

Skipping Charles would be a constitutional crisis - and one that would need a justification. That William is more handsome than Charles just won't do, however much the readers of gossip magazines would like it to.

[kskiska]

21. Exactly.

All this talk about "skipping," the queen "stepping aside early," or "abdicating" is nonsense. It'll never, ever happen.

[roamer65]

22. There is talk that Charles is being asked to step aside.

If Charles assumes the throne, it is very likely that Australia will become a republic. That's the message QE2 got from Australian PM John Howard on her last visit.

[truebrit71]

23. John Howard is more than welcome to kiss my English Arse..

...He's not exactly Mr. Popularity over there at the mo...

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. It's very likely Australia will become a republic anyway

Most people think the referendum on the issue was only lost because the choice given was 'monarchy', or 'president appointed by parliament'. They didn't get the chance of saying they'd like to elect their president. But the other countries with QE2 as Head of State aren't going to say "Australia has developed an irrational hatred of Charles, while still liking William for some reason, we better overthrow our constitutions to keep the Aussies sweet".

This 'talk' never comes from anyone who knows about British law, though.

[roamer65]

34. I expect it will eventually.

Kerr's dismissal of former PM Gough Whitlam is still fresh in the mind of many Australians. When I visited Parliament in Canberra in 2001, the guide for the tour was Gough Whitlam's secretary. Interesting conversation, to say the least.

[raccoon]

27. Yep, you said it right.

"that William is more handsome than Charles just won't do,"

William is young and handsome. Charles is neither. In this TV age, that's all that matters to a great many people.

[WinkyDink]

40. If Charles is alive, Charles will be King. The Windsors will NOT break tradition.

Were Elizabeth of that mind, she would have abdicated a decade ago FOR CHARLES.

[InvisibleTouch]

24. Didn't Dubya insult her the last time she was in town?

Something about showing her his cowboy boots and asking who was the black sheep of her family?

I bet she's so looking forward to having dinner with him again....

[Virginia Dare]

25. Wouldn't doubt it a bit...

I think he's insulted just about every world leader he's come into contact with over the last six or seven years.

[Captain Hilts]

28. He brought his own chef and his security detail trashed the rose garden the Queen Mum had planted.

Really a total bust.

Believe you me, when Liz comes to the White House for the Official State Dinner, she's NOT looking forward to it.

[KansDem]

29. OK, so what faux pas with Chimpie do this time?

Refer to the Queen as "Queenie"

Say something like, "For a foreigner, you speak really good English"

Give her a shoulder rub

Offer her instant ice tea sweetened with Aspartame

Ask her why they drive on the wrong side of the street

Say something like, "I'm stuffed!" after dinner.

Ask her a question by beginning with "YO, Queen..."

Ask her if all the cops in London are Irish, just like Chicago

Anything else?

[ellie]

30. OMG! The queen is coming!

Look busy!

[AllegroRondo]

33. wow, at her age?

I thought she was too old for that kind of thing!

[MiniMe]

31. Feted? Does Chimpy have a new fetish?

[CottonBear]

32. Cool! She's a huge horse racing fan and has never attended the Derby.

She's an avid rider and breeds and races thoroughbred race horses. She's made a number of private visits to Kentucky horse farms. The Derby is a classic race and I think that QEII will add to the grand spectacle!

[geardaddy]

35. So Mrs. Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is coming?

Or is that Mrs. Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg?

[MonkeyFunk]

36. Nope

the family name was changed to Windsor in 1917.

[geardaddy]

38. I know. I know.

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. In fact, it should be Mrs. Battenburg

because that was the Mountbatten family name, before they changed it for the same reason as the Saxe-Coburg Gothas.

[geardaddy]

42. I'd forgotten about that

I knew that George V changed their name from Saxe-Coburg Gotha because of WWI, but forgot that the Mountbattens were Battenburgs before the name change.

[MonkeyFunk]

37. Cool!

Camilla's running in the Derby?!

[JVS]

39. Ah, the Fucking Canadian Head of State! Go home and Free Quebec!

[terrya]

43. I wonder if Helen Mirren will be invited to the state dinner.