Obama back in formal mode as state visit begins

AMERICAN President Barack Obama was back in more formal mode for yesterday’s pageantry-fuelled state visit to London, which began with a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace.

Having begun the week with a whistlestop trip to Ireland, yesterday’s formalities were an appropriate build-up for the busy round of political talks and meetings which the US leader will attend during his three-day visit to Britain.

The state visit is only the third by a US president to Britain in 100 years and comes at a time of close co-operation between the two countries on issues ranging from Libya to Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and the Middle East peace process.