New Delhi: Queen Elizabeth II attended a White House dinner on Monday on the last leg of her visit to the US.
The Queen's visit to Washington was her fifth to the US in 50 years, but her first since 1991, when Bush's father George Bush Senior was president the Queen said Britain and America had a close and enduring friendship and Bush called his guest a good person, a strong leader and a great ally.
The royal visit gave Bush a chance to set aside his problems while celebrating ties to one of America's closest allies. Among the postponed concerns.
A poll that Newsweek magazine released over the weekend showed that 28 percent of Americans approve of his job performance, a record low, while 64 percent disapprove. The remaining 8 per cent offered no opinion.
The president alluded to his troubles as he welcomed the queen on her fifth visit to the US and her first since 1991.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose popularity also has plummeted as a result of the Iraq war, has been one of Bush's staunchest international supporters.
"Today our two nations are defending liberty against tyranny and terror," the president said. "Our work has been hard. The fruits of our work have been difficult for many to see."
It will be the queen's first visit to the war memorial, which was dedicated in 2004.
The queen, a teenage princess during World War II, won permission in 1945 from her father, King George VI, to join the war effort as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British Army. She became No. 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor.
Following the daytime tours, in the final event of the six-day visit, the royal couple will host the Bushes at the British Embassy for dinner before departing for a flight back to England.
On Monday morning, the Bushes waited on a near-perfect spring day as the queen and Prince Philip arrived by limousine for their official welcome at the White House.
The two couples briefly shook hands before moving on to the formal welcome, which included trumpet fanfares and a 21-gun salute.
(With agency inputs)
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