photos: Queen welcomed in USKEY POINTS:
AMERICA- For a President who would really rather serve guests a burrito or some other Tex-Mex favourite and still be in bed by 10pm, tomorrow's state banquet for the Queen could be a trying time for George Bush.
There is the attire - white tie and tails - the first time his Administration has risen to such formality. There are the constraints of etiquette - no swigging water out of plastic bottles, or wolfing down food. And then there is the conversation.
The Queen's grandson Harry is about to deploy to Iraq, and there has been speculation on America's public radio network NPR, and elsewhere, about whether the monarch might just say something to Bush about the war.
Social jitters at the White House aside, the past few days have been good for the Queen. Americans may not be taking the monarch to their hearts the way they did Diana, but they are warm, and respectful.
The Queen's first visit to America came when Dwight Eisenhower was President in 1957, and her return to Virginia after half a century has earned her almost uniformly positive coverage in the press.
The Daily Press, a regional paper, simply printed a giant headline saying: "A royal treat". The Virginia Pilot also plastered the Queen across its front page.
In Louisville, where the Queen fulfilled a lifelong ambition on Saturday by attending the Kentucky Derby, the premier event in the US racing calendar, more than two dozen employees at Churchill Downs track were given a crash course on etiquette.
Even the correspondent for the Racing Form felt obliged to offer tips on royal etiquette. There is no need for Americans to bow or curtsy, but if the Queen extends her hand, try not to shake too hard. "If the Queen extends her hand to shake yours ... try to refrain from vigorously pumping the royal arm; a brief touch is preferred."
CNN warned: "Do not touch the Queen."
The Queen will host a return banquet at the British Embassy on Wednesday.
-OBSERVER
