Barack Obama Meets the Queen - and the King

Yesterday Barack Obama and his wife Michelle met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Obamas presented Her Majesty with a specially engraved iPod containing video footage of her visit to the United States in 2007.

Many people are calling this another 'gaffe gift', but I beg to differ (unless of course the rumours are true and some of his speeches are on there); Her Majesty is known to be keen on technology and apparently already has an iPod which she uses to listen to the Proms.

Mr Obama did not bow upon meeting the Queen. That's OK - as another Head of State, he is technically her equal, unlike Gordon Brown, who is technically her employee.

There is much speculation in the press regarding the relationship between the Queen and Mrs Obama - the latter broke Royal protocol by putting her arm around the Queen (touching her apart from to shake her hand is a big no-no in terms of Royal etiquette) - and in an unprecedented move, the Queen was seen to reciprocate.


My interpretation of this would be that the Queen saw Mrs Obama was nervous, unsure of Royal protocol, and sought to put her at her ease.

However, what interests me far more is how Barack Obama reacted to another monarch he met at the G20 summit.

Here is a Spanish news video of Obama meeting Saudi King Abdullah (pay attention at about 00:53):

You can also see a still over at Michelle Malkin.

So, he can't even allow himself a customary bow for the monarch whose country is hosting him, whose country and Subjects are amongst the greatest friends to his. But when it comes to a human rights breaching Muslim, it's time to kneel as close to the floor as possible.

Is it possible to bow and scrape any lower? My gut feeling is this action confirms where his priorities lie.