“The American people are proud to welcome your majesty back to the United States, a nation you’ve come to know very well. After all you’ve dined with 10 U.S. presidents. You’ve helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 — in 1976.”
This is just another memory to add to President Bush’s “Most Embarrassing Moments Portfolio.”
During one of the ceremonies honoring Queen Elizabeth II’s state visit, President Bush made the mistake of nearly sending Her Majesty spiraling back to the 18th century. While this was met with laughter from the thousands of invited guests, the queen gave Bush “a look that only a mother could give a child.”
It was all in good humor when the queen retaliated by saying, “I wonder whether I should start this toast by saying, ‘When I was here in 1776,’ ” during the culmination of her state visit at the White House white-tie banquet.
Her Majesty’s six-day trip had her visit the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia; watch a video-link of the International Space Station astronauts at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; honor fallen soldiers at the National World War II Memorial and visit sick children in Washington.