After facing much ridicule for once giving the queen of England an iPod filled with his own speeches, President Obama went the more sentimental route for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday.
From the White House:
On the occasion of the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama presented Her Majesty with a custom photo album chronicling her visits with U.S. Presidents and First Ladies. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the longest reigning monarch in British history. The collection of historical photos in the album highlights the enduring close friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Her Majesty’s first visit to the United States was in 1951 as Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, when she toured George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon Estate and met with President Harry S. Truman. Since that first visit, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has met with nearly every U.S. President. Her first visit to the United States as Queen occurred in 1957, during which she met with both President Dwight D. Eisenhower and former President Herbert Hoover.
Obama’s present is a safe choice after some awkward gaffes with the monarch: After the iPod, first lady Michelle Obama caused consternation when she broke protocol by putting her hand on the queen’s back in 2009. Two years later, the president continued speaking through a toast after the band began playing “God Save the Queen.”
The best part of Obama’s gift this year, however, may be the low-tech aspect of it: Recall his 2009 memento to then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, when Obama gave him a box of DVDs that weren’t even coded to be read by U.K. DVD players.
