Bush to visit Buckingham Palace

US President George Bush was today paying his first visit to the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

President Bush, who was having lunch with the Queen, met his royal host once before over dinner in the White House when his father was president.

He recalled: ‘‘I found her charming, she was great, a wonderful sense of humour. She was neat.’’

Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the President was reviewing a guard of honour in the Palace quadrangle before lunch in the 1844 Room.

The Queen met President Bush’s father on three occasions in Britain - in June 1989 for lunch at the Palace, in July 1990 during a Nato London summit and in July 1991 while the US leader was in London for an economic summit.

George Bush junior, who arrived in Britain last night with his wife Laura at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, aboard the presidential jet Air Force One, came with an entourage of advisers, secret service agents and the White House press corps.

While the President was having lunch with the Queen, some 120 US journalists were being given a tour of the Palace.

‘‘We’re trying to support the British tourist industry,’’ said a Palace spokesman.

‘‘Not all the journalists accompanying the President will be able to cover the meeting with the Queen, because of limited space, so those not involved will be given a tour of the state apartments.’’

Earlier this week, President Bush said the visit would ‘‘confirm and renew’’ the strong relationship between the UK and the US.

‘‘Not only will I have the honour of meeting with Her Majesty, I will also spend some quality time again with the Prime Minister,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ve got a strong personal relationship that is most helpful to making sure our countries continue the tie that binds.’’

While in London, the President was also visiting the British Museum and Cabinet War Rooms to view memorabilia associated with Sir Winston Churchill, one of President Bush’s heroes.

After spending the night at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country residence, the President will fly to Italy for the Genoa G8 Summit on Friday.

The visit comes amid growing controversy over President Bush’s policies on global warming and defence, and just a day after he made his first intervention in the Northern Ireland peace process, calling on the IRA to disarm.

Protests were expected during the trip over his plans for a missile defence system and his refusal to sign up to the Kyoto protocol on cutting emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Both issues will feature high on the agenda in discussions with Prime Minister Tony Blair at Chequers.

And in a surprise move, Mr Bush who has so far steered clear of public comment on Ulster - has indicated that Northern Ireland would also be on the agenda.

Mr Blair has yet to state the Government’s position on the so-called Son of Star Wars scheme to shoot missiles, fired by so-called rogue states, out of the sky, despite coming under pressure from Labour colleagues to oppose the plan.

Last week, the US successfully downed a ballistic missile over the Pacific in a test of the technology, despite protests from both Russia and China.

British agreement is vital to the scheme, as it would require the upgrading of US radar bases at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill, both in North Yorkshire.