Obama in London

President Barack Obama  paid tribute to the “enduring bond” between Britain and the US as he embraced the “special relationship” in a speech at Buckingham Palace

At the end of a highly successful first day of his State visit, Mr Obama spoke of the “rock solid foundation” of a friendship that “never rests”, stressing that Britain had been America’s “closest partner” since the horrors of 9/11.

Reminding guests at the banquet of his own British ancestry through his grandmother, he filled his address to the Queen with warm and highly personal praise of her and the nation as a whole, to which the monarch replied: “That’s very kind.”

Mr Obama’s speech would have been music to the ears of David Cameron, sitting a few places to his left, as the President had, until now, shown a distinctly lukewarm attitude towards the importance of Anglo-American ties.

But where he had in the past been qualified in his comments, Mr Obama could not have been more effusive, even borrowing Tony Blair’s description of the two countries standing “shoulder to shoulder” in the fight against terrorism.

He said he wanted to “reaffirm the enduring bonds between our two nations and reinforce this special relationship”.

He also quoted Winston Churchill’s description of a “union of hearts based upon convictions and common ideals” adding that while the challenges had changed over time, “our adherence to those values have not”.
Saluting the Queen’s remarkable achievements during her reign, the President said: “As we confront the challenges of the 21st century together we can have confidence in the partnership our two countries share, based on a rock solid foundation built during Queen Elizabeth’s lifetime of extraordinary service to her nation and to the world.”

He also brought the Queen greetings from his daughters Malia and Sasha, “who adored you even before you let them ride on a carriage on the palace grounds” during the Obama’s first visit to the Palace in 2009 during the G20 summit.
In her own speech, the Queen described the US as “our most important ally” and said the world was a “more secure” place when “the United States and the United Kingdom stand together”.
She added: “We are here to celebrate the tried, tested and, yes, special relationship between our two countries.”

Earlier the president and his wife, Michelle, met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — fresh from their honeymoon in the Seychelles — and quickly established a rapport.
Looking tanned and relaxed, the Duke and Duchess, carrying out their first official duty as a married couple, spent around 20 minutes chatting to the Obamas at the Palace.


Mr Obama was given full State honours, including a 41-gun salute from Green Park, after being welcomed by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. He was only the third US president to be afforded the honour.
Then, as the Queen showed the Obamas an exhibition of US memorabilia from the Royal Collection, the president repeatedly cracked jokes as he and the Queen chatted like old friends.

 US first lady Michelle Obama was left desperately protecting her modesty  when a ceremony welcoming President Barack Obama to Britain turned windy

At one point, as he was shown letters relating to Britain’s loss of the American colonies, Mr Obama reassured the monarch: “That was only a temporary blip in the relationship.”
Mr Obama was also shown a photograph of HMS Resolute, timbers from which were used to make his desk in the White House.
“This is my desk in the Oval Office. I think we got a pretty good deal out of that,” he said.

The Obamas also laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, before the president and David Cameron visited the Globe Academy school in Southwark, where the two leaders took off their jackets and challenged two boys to a game of table tennis.
“Who wants to take me on?” Mr Obama said as he walked into the gym.

Today Mr Obama will follow in the footsteps of Charles de Gaulle, Nelson Mandela and the Pope by addressing both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall.