Obamas receive a royal welcome

LONDON – The United Kingdom rolled out the red carpet and all its considerable majesty Tuesday for President Barack Obama, as he and Michelle Obama launched a two-day state visit that will pivot quickly to more sober discussions of the U.S.-Europe alliance.

First, however, the president and the first lady spent the day Tuesday reveling in the kind of pomp and ceremony that the English do better than anyone else, from a formal welcome by colorful guards to an overnight stay at Buckingham Palace and a lavish state dinner.

They arrived at the palace to the cheers of onlookers as they were greeted by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip. The queen showed the Obamas around their six-room suite in the 775-room palace, a suite last used by the queen’s grandson Prince William and his bride on their wedding night last month.

After meeting briefly with the young newlyweds, the Obamas were formally welcomed outside on the palace’s west terrace. Members of the Scots Guards – with their familiar red uniforms and high furry hats – lined up in front of him while the pipes and drums of the Scots Guards behind them played “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Throughout the ceremony, the sky reverberated with the steady cannon pounding out a 41-gun salute.

The two heads of state also exchanged gifts. The Obamas gave the queen a collection of rare memorabilia and photographs highlighting her parents’ 1939 visit to the United States. Her late father, King George VI, was the subject of the movie “The King’s Speech.”

The queen gave the Obamas a bound volume of facsimiles of letters from U.S. presidents to Queen Victoria and an antique brooch.

The president will meet today with Prime Minister David Cameron. He’ll also deliver a speech on the trans-Atlantic alliance to a joint session of Parliament that the White House and analysts said would be the major address of his six-day, four-country trip.

Throughout the day today, Obama will affirm the key role of European alliances that he’s strived to revitalize after they languished in the George W. Bush years, while looking to assure that they can carry their share of the burden in such joint endeavors as the bombing campaign against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

With Gadhafi holding on to power after two months of NATO bombing, the alliance faces questions about how to force him out. Moreover, allies such as the U.K. face questions about whether they’re up to carrying a greater share of sustained campaigns at the very moment that Obama wants Europe to lead more.

Cameron, for example, is slashing defense spending as part of a broad effort to cut budget deficits. That’s left the U.K. without the service of an aircraft carrier and many of the trained pilots it might need for a sustained effort against Gadhafi.

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Obama, brushed aside questions Tuesday about the cutbacks.

“A lot of nations are looking at ways to reduce spending,” he said. “We’re confident that Europe can continue to play the role that it’s played as our principal partner and fundamental security partner in the world, even as, of course, we have a number of very critical security relationships ranging from obviously our Asian allies to Australia to other countries.”