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The Duke of Edinburgh laughs as the Queen signs the visitor's book, and Michelle Obama is unfortunately positioned in front of a large plant. U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and first lady Michelle Obama react as the car carrying Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrives at Winfield House in London, May 25, 2011 U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) and British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) are joined by their wives, first lady Michelle Obama (2nd R) and Samantha Cameron (R) as they serve lunch to U.S. and British military service members, veterans and family members in...

The "bumbling" President Ford apparently knew that the toast is supposed to end with the words, "the Queen." It is interesting to watch the Queen's reaction in this video and compare it with the one she had yesterday. (Video at link) ML/NJ

Ah, now his “2008″ gaffe from earlier today is starting to make more sense. Turns out … he really is brain-damaged.No, I kid. I think he, like Frank Drebin, simply doesn’t believe in silly ideas like having queens: The president paused, the guests stood, and the orchestra prepared to play.But the president wasn’t done speaking.“The vitality –“ the president said before the orchestra began…“To the Queen,” the president finally said.He lifted his glass to her, she smiled a bit uncomfortably.But because the song was playing, no one drank from his or her glass, including the president, who put his glass...

WATCH OUR NATIONAL JOKE Obama’s Toast to the Queen Triggers Awkward Orchestral Moment Posted on May 25, 2011 at 3:01am by Scott Baker ABC News: The president and the orchestra at Buckingham Palace this evening were a bit out of synch. When the president toasted the Queen the orchestra misunderstood a pause and what seemed to be a cue from the president for “God Save the Queen” to begin playing. “Ladies and gentlemen please stand with me and raise your glasses as I propose a toast,” the president said, putting down his note cards and grabbing his glass. “To...

More than one person has wanted to call Barack Obama a 'smart alec', and now British police will get the chance to do so without getting reprimanded. That's because Scotland Yard has tapped the codename 'Chalaque' to refer to the U.S. president for security reasons during his upcoming state visit to the United Kingdom May 24-26. Indarjit Singh, a Punjabi speaker in the UK who is director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, told the Sunday Times the word 'is sometimes used when we want to denigrate someone who we think is too clever for their own good'.

Buckingham Palace cordoned off as Irish republican dissidents issue London bomb threat Large parts of central London have been cordoned off after Irish republican dissidents issued a bomb threat, police have disclosed. 1:09PM BST 16 May 2011 Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion as a security alert closed down the centre of the capital around Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. A suitcase was discovered abandoned outside a hotel and was destroyed in a controlled explosion at 9.30am. It comes a day before the Queen is scheduled to make her first ever visit to the Republic of Ireland. Security...

WASILLA — When members of Wasilla High School’s symphonic jazz choir heard Friday it wouldn’t be singing the popular Queen hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” at this year’s graduation ceremony after working on it all year, the students couldn’t get their heads around it. WHS Principal Dwight Probasco reportedly had received complaints from at least one parent that the 1975 hit written by Freddie Mercury wasn’t appropriate for the ceremony simply because Mercury was gay. “The whole thing was just ridiculous,” senior Rachel Clark said Monday. “They’d played the song on the school intercom and we played it at prom.” Choir member...

In an unprecedented move the leaders of Jordan's main Bedouin tribes have published an open letter addressed to King Abdullah II accusing his wife, Queen Rania, of corruption. The text, released on 5 February, is signed by 36 representatives of the main Bedouin tribes. It comes at a particularly difficult time for the king, whose authority has been sapped by the growing discontent voiced by demonstrators. ... The letter makes no direct reference to the issue of the country's fragile ethnic balance, but claims that the queen, of Palestinian parentage, has created centres of power serving her own interests. This...

Is Queen Rania the Next Target of Middle Eastern Violence? Posted by Sasha Brown-Worsham on February 9, 2011 at 1:25 PM Comments (4)| Likes (5) Share 18 Queen Rania of Jordan is undoubtedly an international celebrity. Most of this is due to her marked beauty and taste for fine things. But her lavish lifestyle may soon come to end as Jordan is showing some signs that it could be the next Egypt or Tunisia. Recent revolts, like the ones that took out Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and currently threaten Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, have been played out on...

Barack and Michelle earn themselves a tempest in a Wedgwood teapot. Last week the Daily Mail reported that President and Mrs. Obama will not be among the 2,000 invited to Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, to attend the wedding of Prince William, the older son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. This news has caused the proverbial tempest in a teapot. How could this snub have come about?One might well ask, how could this snub not have come about? LetÂ’s take a brief stroll down memory lane, shall we? Not two weeks into his presidency, Mr. Obama...

Unusual pieces of history from one of South Florida's most eccentric icons will be shown this weekend at a Coconut Grove estate. This weekend's sale is sure to get Her Majesty's knickers in a twist. Although Queen Elizabeth II's undergarment can't be purchased (yet), it will be on display during the estate sale of Coconut Grove's larger-than-life character, the late Baron Joseph de Bicske Dobronyi, better known as Sepy. On Saturday and Sunday at his Coconut Grove home, the public has the chance to purchase more than 700 items from the iconic playboy's collection of artifacts and art from 83...

The Queen has spoken of the "difficult" and "painful" choices facing the Church of England as she formally opened the Church's general synod. She also spoke of the "need to communicate the gospel with joy and conviction in our society". The Queen addressed the 476 members of the Church's governing body as they marked the start of a five-year term. The synod will also debate measures to keep the Church together over issues such as same-sex blessings. And its members are preparing to discuss Prime Minister David Cameron's "big society" idea. Before her address, the Queen, who is supreme governor...

LONDON – Prince Charles has reopened a sensitive debate in Britain by suggesting his wife Camilla may take the title of queen when he becomes monarch. The comments came in an interview with U.S. network NBC recorded in August and due to be broadcast later Friday. Extracts were aired on British television and received high attention in the week Charles' son Prince William — who is second in line to the throne — announced his engagement to Kate Middleton. Camilla legally will be queen if Charles takes the throne, but when the couple married in 2005 officials said she planned...

Users have been flocking to the Queen's new Facebook page to post abusive messages about the Duchess of Cornwall, it has emerged. The Queen's Facebook page - The British Monarchy - has attracted nearly 200,000 visitors since it launched on Monday. Royalists and republicans alike have logged on to the social networking site to view images, videos and news about the British monarchy. But moderators were forced to remove many abusive comments by anti-monarchist saboteurs who clicked the 'like' button in order to post anti-Royal messages.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Representative Barney Frank, the outspoken, witty Democrat closely tied to the 2008 U.S. bank bailout, faces a tough re-election battle after 15 terms in office at a time when incumbency itself is a liability. Challenging the Massachusetts liberal is Republican Sean Bielat, an Iraq war veteran, and opinion polls suggest Frank has an uncomfortably narrow lead over a political unknown. In the run-up to Tuesday's congressional elections, Frank has faced a torrent of negative ads and mailings, much of it from groups outside the state who support candidates from the conservative Tea Party movement. Last week, Frank...

The Catholic Church was criticised in court as a paedophile former priest was jailed for a campaign of sexually abuse against young boys that spanned four decades. James Robinson, 73, who fled to the US in 1985, was found guilty of 21 sexual offences at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday after being extradited from America. The jury heard he carried out a string of abuses against six victims, including two altar boys, between 1959 and 1983. Robinson, who worked in the Black Country, Staffordshire, Birmingham and Coventry after being ordained as a priest in 1971, denied all the charges but was...

Wilders’ impact felt as Dutch coalition sworn in By Stanley Pignal in Brussels Published: October 13 2010 17:48 | Last updated: October 13 2010 17:48 A government supported by the anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders is to take office in the Netherlands on Thursday, with plans to harden immigration rules and cut public spending. In a nod to tradition, Mark Rutte, the incoming prime minister, and members of his government will stand on the balcony of the royal palace in The Hague to accept a mandate from Queen Beatrix to form the country’s first minority administration since the second world war.

Citing the rising cost of utilities, the British Royal Family has sought funds from a program designed to help poor households with their heating bills. “The global recession hasn’t exempted the Queen and her kin from hardship,” said Reginald Smythe, spokesman for the Crown. “The million pounds a year it costs to heat and cool the Palace has put a real bite on the family’s budget. There’s even a fear that Prince Charles may have to sell his string of polo ponies just so his mother can make ends meet. Her Majesty felt such a turn of events would risk...

Your Majesty, Thank you for your gracious invitation to make an official visit to the United Kingdom and for your warm words of greeting on behalf of the British people. In thanking Your Majesty, allow me to extend my own greetings to all the people of the United Kingdom and to hold out a hand of friendship to each one. It is a great pleasure for me to start my journey by saluting the members of the Royal Family, thanking in particular His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh for his kind welcome to me at Edinburgh Airport. I express my...

2 Zombies to Tolerate for a WhileBy ANDREW ROSS SORKIN Published: August 16, 2010 Representative Barney Frank was furious. **SNIP** On the television program that had stirred Mr. Frank, “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, the prevailing view was that any effort toward a resolution of Fannie and Freddie — government-created mortgage companies that were taken over by the government as the financial crisis mounted — had been put on the back burner during the overhaul of financial regulation. The consensus was that neither Democrats nor Republicans wanted to touch an issue that would dredge up decisions made by both parties over...