SHOULD HAVE JUST KEPT THE MONARCHY:

A White-Tie Dinner for Queen’s White House Visit (SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, 5/08/07, NY Times)

Presidents come and go, but for more than half a century, the queen has always been the queen.

So it was perhaps no surprise that Washington went a little gaga on Monday, as Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, began an official two-day visit to the capital.

Across the Atlantic, Helen Mirren, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Elizabeth in “The Queen,” shocked the British conscience over the weekend by turning down an invitation to dine at Buckingham Palace.

But on this side of the ocean, the queen was making Americans go weak in the knees.

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If looks could kill, Mr Bush, you'd be a goner (EBEN HARRELL, 5/08/07, The Scotsman)

A CLOUDLESS blue sky, a military marching band, an immaculate red carpet - the White House managed to put everything in order yesterday for the Queen's first visit to the United States in 16 years. Everything, that is, except for George Bush.

In his opening remarks, the president managed to undo weeks of preparation in a single phrase. At the welcoming ceremony in Washington DC, Mr Bush had been talking about one of the Queen's previous visits, in 1976, which coincided with the 200th anniversary of American independence.

In front of more than 7,000 politicians, diplomats, White House staff and their families, Mr Bush told the Queen: "You helped our nation to celebrate its bicentennial in 17 ..." before hastily correcting himself and saying "1976."

The crowd laughed and the president paused, turned to the Queen and winked. He turned back to the lectern and quipped: "She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child."

The Queen laughed in response.