April 1, 2009, 2:55 pm
Pool photo by John Stillwell President and Mrs. Obama with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during an audience at Buckingham Palace.
LONDON—
Finally! An answer to the question that everyone has been dying to know, especially after the debacle of the gift exchange ( échange de présents) last month when the Obamas gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a bunch of DVDs (une pile de DVDs) and proceeded to get hammered (martelé par la presse) for bad gift-giving by the British press: What did the Obamas give to Queen Elizabeth II Wednesday when they arrived at Buckingham Palace?
An iPod.
Seriously. An Obama aide reports that Mr. Obama gave the queen an iPod loaded (chargé de) with video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as other songs and accessories, and a rare songbook signed by Richard Rodgers, of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame.
According to reports, the queen gave the Obamas a silver framed ( cadre en argent) signed photograph — a gift she gives to all visiting dignitaries.
No word yet on whether the songbook included the Rodgers and Hammerstein “Sound of Music” favorite, “My Favorite Things,” or whether the book will become one of the Queen’s favorite things.But one thing is certain. That iPod better have some good songs on there, because if past is prologue (si le passé sert d'indicateur) , the British papers will be examining this gift for a while.
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