Michelle Obama charms Queen away from protocol
Michelle Obama charms Queen away from protocol
Michelle Obama wrapped her arm around the UK monarch's shoulder and back.

London: US First Lady Michelle Obama's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II began with a handshake and ended in a hug.

The first lady arrived on Wednesday with US President Barack Obama. After separate meetings on the eve of the G-20 summit, the couple attended an evening reception for world leaders hosted by the Queen.

Obama and his wife, Michelle — wearing a black and white dress, pearls and a black coat — were two of the first dignitaries to meet the Queen, who wore a salmon-colored dress and her trademark pearls.

During their private meeting, President Obama and first lady gave the Queen a personalized iPod with video footage of her 2007 visit to Washington and Virginia. She was also given a rare songbook signed by composer Richard Rodgers.

In return the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, gave the Obamas a signed portrait of themselves.

Mrs Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch — so much that the smiling Queen strayed slightly from protocol and briefly wrapped her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the US president called home to tell his two young daughters he met the Queen. "I think it was a real treat to call back and tell his kids that he'd met the Queen," Gibbs told ABC's Good Morning America, referring to the US president's daughters, Sasha and Malia. The spokesman said the girls had been talking about their dad's visit with the Queen in the days leading up to the trip. "This is something that genuinely interested them," he said.

It was the first time Mrs Obama — who is nearly a foot taller — had met the Queen. The first lady also wrapped her arm around the monarch's shoulder and back.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman who asked not to be identified because of palace policy said he could not remember the last time the Queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary.

"It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection," he said. "We don't issue instructions on not touching the Queen."

Queen Elizabeth has met with 11 of the last 12 US presidents, including a meeting that took place with Harry Truman when she was a princess, according to Buckingham Palace spokesman David Pogson.The only US president she did not meet was Lyndon Johnson. His widow later met the Queen.

When the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating put his arm around the Queen in 1992, the tabloids dubbed him the 'Lizard of Oz.'

When his successor, John Howard, was accused of doing the same, a spokesman insisted, "We firmly deny that there was any contact whatsoever." In 2007, President George W Bush gave the Queen a sly wink during a visit she paid to the United States.

The Daily Mail said the 'two women clearly took to each other.'

Wednesday's reception was followed by a dinner at Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street home, where the leaders' spouses were joined by notable British women, including Harry Potter author J K Rowling and Olympic gold medal runner Kelly Holmes.

"Michelle walks in and she is as she seems," Kelly Holmes told reporters on Thursday. "So warm, engaging, a beautiful, beautiful lady — and I quickly got my photo in the middle of her and Sarah Brown, the prime minister's wife."

Mrs Obama also seemed to win over the often feral British press.

The last time a first lady made such a hit in Britain was last year with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife, the former fashion model and songwriter Carla Bruni.

But on Thursday, London's Times newspaper had moved on, writing "Carla who?"

The BBC described Mrs Obama as her husband's co-star rather than supporting act — appropriate for a Harvard-educated lawyer.

Mrs Obama visited an all-girls school in north London on Thursday afternoon. She told the 240 girls about growing up on Chicago's south side, and urged them to think of education as "cool."

"I never cut class. I liked being smart. I liked getting A's," she said. "You have everything you need. Everything you need to succeed you already have right here."

At the end of the visit, Mrs Obama doled out hugs to the students, and was swarmed by them — to the extent that some Secret Service agents stepped nervously forward.

Earlier Thursday, Mrs Obama attended a performance at the Royal Opera House with the other spouses and guests. The program included music by Handel and a dance performance by Ballet Black, a troupe set up to give performing opportunities to black and Asian classical dancers.

Wearing a bright teal blue dress by Jason Wu — who designed her inauguration gown — and a sweater by Junya Watanabe, Mrs Obama posed for photographs with wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gursharan Kaur, wife of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Sarah Brown, wife of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Therese Rein, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's wife Chikako Aso, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Laureen Harper on the stage of the opera house.

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