Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because You Have to Buy Your Own IPod

Obamas Give Queen Elizabeth an iPod

Published: April 1, 2009

LONDON — Finally, an answer to the question consuming protocol watchers and tabloid reporters here: What did the Obamas give Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday when they arrived at Buckingham Palace?

Pool photo by John Stillwell

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, met Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in London on Wednesday.

An iPod.

An Obama aide reported the queen was given an iPod loaded with video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as songs and accessories. She also received a rare songbook signed by the composer Richard Rodgers.

The gift issue had come up after Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the White House last month. Mr. Brown gave Mr. Obama a pen holder carved from the timber of an anti-slave ship, receiving in return a DVD box set of American movies, igniting a torrent of criticism in the British press.

According to news reports here, the queen gave the Obamas a silver-framed signed photograph — a gift she gives to all visiting dignitaries.

There was no word on whether the songbook included the “Sound of Music” classic, “My Favorite Things.”

But one thing is certain: that iPod better have some good songs, because if past is prologue, the British papers will be examining this gift for a while.

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