In town for the first time since the elder Bush was in office (1991), Queen Elizabeth II descended on the district on May 7, appearing in front of a crowd of 7,000 on the White House South Lawn for an arrival ceremony (and a guffaw-laden speech by the president), followed by a private lunch with the Bushes. Next up was a garden party at the British ambassador’s residence, where 700 V.I.P.s—that is, those who didn’t make the state-dinner guest list—drank Pol Roger Champagne and Earl Grey tea and ate cucumber sandwiches.
Laura Bush confessed to Good Morning America that she and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “did, sort of, have to convince” the president to mandate the administration’s first-ever white-tie-and-tails formality for the state dinner honoring the queen that night, which was Bush’s fifth state dinner since he took office six years ago.
The Washington Post's Reliable Source columnists, Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, got the event scoop from new White House social secretary Amy Zantzinger, who replaced Lea Berman in March. Though it was her first assignment since taking on the post, Zantzinger insisted, “I’m not nervous.” Behind-the-scenes details: The queen stood on a custom-made step for her remarks, because last time she was in town, the too-tall podium allowed guests to see only her hat; and Laura Bush was guaranteed a one-of-a-kind dress from Oscar de la Renta—something Zantzinger had to insist upon after three other women sported the same dress as the first lady at the Kennedy Center Honors.
English notes abounded at the event (as Yahoo pointed out), including historic Vermeil flatware and candelabras that came from a London silversmith, a rose-blossom sugar confection that mimicked the queen’s 1953 coronation rose, and English farmhouse cheeses served at dinner. Another detail tailored to the queen’s liking was last-minute invitee Calvin Borel; the queen had been on-hand to see the jockey win the Kentucky Derby on May 5.
Other V.I.P.s on the donor-heavy guest list of 134 included Cheney’s daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Philip Perry; Fort Worth, Texas, oil billionaires Lee and Sid Bass; and The View co-host Elizabeth Hasselback. Philadelphia Daily News blogger Will Blouch rants here about the fact that four journalists—Newsweek’s Richard Wolffe, Robin Roberts of ABC’s Good Morning America, David Gregory of NBC News, and Reuters’ Steven Holland—attended the event as guests, not as reporters covering the event. Clearly his topic is timely, considering that New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich announced on April 29 that Times staffers will no longer be attending the White House Correspondents Association dinner for the same reason—the belief that journalists shouldn’t socialize with the crowd they cover.
Though it was the queen’s night, the next day the media focused largely on the young Barbara Bush and her off-again, clearly on-again boyfriend/date, Jay Blount.
