May 7, 2007: The President and Mrs. Bush welcomed Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for a State Visit yesterday at the White House.
The principals (i.e., The President & First Lady) conducted a leader to leader gift exchange in the Red Room of the White House immediately after the arrival ceremony. President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette “High Desert Princess†with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.
President and Mrs. Bush gave The Prince Philip an exclusive sterling silver eagle box by Tiffany & Co. with personal inscription on the inside lid.
President and Mrs. Bush gave Their Majesties a leather presentation box filled with a collection of documents from the National Archives. One of the items was a copy of an original letter from President Roosevelt to her father, King George, written in 1938. There were also photos from previous royal visits and a DVD of the footage from the Queen’s visit to the United States when she was Princess Elizabeth in 1951.
Gifts like those mentioned above required
thought and planning......sometimes that is more important than the actual gift and it's monetary value....I would think the letter would be especially sentimental to the Queen, and something special to go into the National Archives or whatever it's called over there.
While the rare book from Richard Rogers did require some thought....the gift of an iPod to one of the wealthiest women in the world...seems cheap, thoughtless (as requiring no thought or originality), and rather insulting.
Not only that....there has been no mention of a gift to Prince Philip....
...maybe they gave him a box of monogrammed hankerchiefs .....of white cotton....