US President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II Tuesday processed together into a glittering Buckingham Palace state dinner, and paid history-daubed tribute to the old alliance between their two nations.
Obama, on the second day of a tour of Europe, quoted Shakespeare and wartime prime minister Winston Churchill to pay tribute to Britain and to sum up a relationship he portrayed as a cornerstone of Western civilisation.
The president said he was in Britain to "reaffirm the enduring bonds between our nations and reinforce the special relationship."
TRIBUTE TO MONARCH
In a personal tribute delivered directly to the 85-year-old British monarch, he said his two daughters Malia and Sasha "adored you, even before you let them ride in a carriage in the palace grounds."
The queen and Obama had paraded into the white tie dinner as a chamber orchestra played "God Save the Queen" while First Lady Michelle Obama walked in beside the queen's consort, the Duke of Edinburgh.
TOM HANKS, RICHARD BRANSON ATTENDED DINNER
Other guests included British Prime Minister David Cameron, some of his predecessors including John Major and Gordon Brown, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, entrepreneur Richard Branson, and Hollywood stars Kevin Spacey and Tom Hanks.
Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew also attended, as did senior members of Obama's White House entourage.
In her toast, the queen said Obama's visit reminds us of "our shared history, our common language and our strong intellectual and cultural links."
"Your country twice came to the rescue of the free and democratic world when it was facing military disaster," she told Obama, in a reference to the two world wars.
Obama concluded his toast with a quote from Shakespeare's Richard III.
"To her Majesty the Queen, to the vitality of the special relationship between our peoples and in the words of Shakespeare, 'to this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.'"
THE OBAMAS MET WILLIAM AND CATHERINE
Earlier, Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, were to meet Prince William and Catherine, less than a month after watching their fairytale wedding on television.
The serious political business of the visit happens on Wednesday, and Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron limbered up for their talks with a vow to support those risking their lives for reform in the Arab world.
"We will not stand by as their aspirations get crushed in a hail of bombs, bullets and mortar fire. We are reluctant to use force, but when our interests and values come together, we know we have a responsibility to act," they wrote.
"We will stand with those who want to bring light into dark, support those who seek freedom in place of repression, aid those laying the building blocks of democracy," they said in an article in the Times newspaper.
The declaration of intent comes less than a week after Obama spelled out his long-awaited response to the tumult which has ousted autocrats and reshaped nations in the Middle East and North Africa.
CAMERON HAILED 'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP'
In a semantic riff on the so-called "special relationship" between the United States and Britain, Obama and Cameron also heralded a new "essential relationship" between the countries.
The NATO mission in Libya, backed by US logistics, but led by Britain and France, is also likely to be a key issue when Cameron and Obama meet for an informal chat on Tuesday, ahead of formal talks the next day.
Britain is reportedly planning to send Apache helicopters to attack Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya, in a bid to unlock the stalemate.
Diplomatic and military manoeuvring is heating up over Libya ahead of the G8 summit in France, Obama's next stop on a four-nation European tour which started with a journey to his ancestral roots in Ireland and also takes in Poland.
Before enjoying the pomp and circumstance of athe royal visit, Obama took care of domestic concerns, with on-camera remarks on a tornado tragedy that is dominating media coverage back home in the United States.
He said he was "heartbroken" by the death toll wrought by one killer storm in Joplin, Missouri, where 116 people are so far confirmed dead.
Mindful that no US leader can afford to hobnob with royals abroad while a disaster unfolds at home, Obama said he would visit the disaster zone on Sunday, hours after returning from Europe.
But for Tuesday, the main focus was on the royals and the eye-catching meeting with the newlyweds, fresh from their honeymoon in the Seychelles.
The two couples were due to meet at Buckingham Palace for about 10 minutes just before noon, before the formal ceremonial welcome for the Obamas in the palace garden.
The Obamas were not invited to the wedding because William is not heir to the throne - he is second in line after his father, Prince Charles - so the meeting will be the president's first chance to congratulate the couple in person.
The Obamas were also due to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey - where Catherine deposited her wedding bouquet in a tradition begun by the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
The queen struck up a visibly close friendship with Michelle Obama when the Obamas visited Britain for the first time in 2009, with both women putting their arms around each other in a highly unusual gesture.
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