Queen is not amused by Bush's Buckingham Palace makeover

Telegraph ^ | 16/11/2003 | By Tim Walker and Andrew Alderson

[Lessismore]

The Queen rejected a request from President George W. Bush's security advisers to bolster Buckingham Palace's structural defences against a terrorist attack during his state visit to Britain this week.

Senior courtiers say that the Queen was not willing to countenance "bomb and airborne assault proofing" that would have involved substantial building work at her London home.

The Americans fear that al-Qaeda terrorists are planning an attack when the President and his wife, Laura, stay for three nights in the ground-floor Belgian Suite at the Palace.

One courtier said: "They [the Americans] wanted blast and bullet-proofed windows and curtains and some strengthening to the walls of the President's suite and other rooms at the Palace where he would be spending time. The President's security men seem obsessed with the idea of an airborne attack on the Palace.

"Her Majesty takes the view that no amount of strengthening of windows and walls could protect the President in such an eventuality and that the work would cause disruption and involve discarding original fixtures and fittings."

The Queen has also limited the number of American security staff who will be accommodated at the Palace. "Her Majesty's view throughout was that since there are going to be 5,000 British police officers involved in the security operation for the President, it's not unreasonable to expect her guests to have some faith in their abilities."

Britain's security services have been placed on a higher level of alert for the visit of Mr Bush. The "severe general" alert, the second highest, follows information about plots by al-Qaeda supporters from North Africa.

The Sunday Telegraph has also learned that two suspected al-Qaeda terrorists were stopped from entering Britain last week because it was feared that they were plotting an assassination attempt on the President, using anti-war protests as cover.

A senior intelligence official said: "We are aware of an al-Qaeda plot and we know of at least two individuals who have been stopped from coming into the country during the last week. Another person is known to be in the country but the situation is under control."

The Queen will officially welcome the President in a unique ceremony on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace on Wednesday morning.

[anniegetyourgun]

I'm guessing W will be asking Laura to stay home this time.

[EggsAckley]

So put the President in a more secure place, but tell the world he's in the Palace.

[Dog]

Nothing better happen to him while in England..

[Leroy S. Mort]

...since there are going to be 5,000 British police officers involved in the security operation for the President, it's not unreasonable to expect her guests to have some faith in their abilities

Yep. They can shake their nightsticks and blow their whistles at any incoming aircraft.

[Prodigal Son]

I'm guessing W will be asking Laura to stay home this time.

I'm guessing you'd be wrong. I figure W cares a lot less about bullet proof windows than do the Secret Service. They are paid to be paranoid. Laura will be going to London.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Maybe this is propaganda? The papers in London are about the same as the ones here. Bird cage liner.

[PoorMuttly]

How many Brit Policemen can a rocket penetrate...since they evidently prefer using human shields.

I suppose they'll give him a cot in the basement.

[CindyDawg]

Why can't he stay in the Royal Heinass's terrorist shelter that they built in the palace?.

[b4its2late]

Who the hell in their right or left mind gives two craps what the Queen thinks?

That is if the blokes are in their correct minds....

[Prodigal Son]

The Telegraph is a pretty good paper.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

In ten years the EU will be ruled by a mullah.

[Cobra64]

Yep. They can shake their nightsticks and blow their whistles at any incoming aircraft.

I wouldn't underestimate British security. They have the best commandos in the world, and I bet the RAF's fighters will be circling.

[Prodigal Son]

Who the hell in their right or left mind gives two craps what the Queen thinks?

You know, the Queen is a terrorist target herself. She feels comfortable with the level of security at Buckingham Palace. Why shouldn't we? At any rate, it's her house. We can't just demand she rebuild the thing.

[toddst]

So put the President in a more secure place, but tell the world he's in the Palace.

10-4. Given the objection to proper beefed up facilities relocating George W. to another location is likely in the works. A little slight-of-hand is a good thing. Let the terrorists attack the wrong quarters.

[nwrep]

Who cares what the Queen thinks? That goddamn palace would not have been there but for the Americans during WWII. She is still the Queen of a sovereign nation thanks to our nuclear protection. And what the hell is so great about that palace anyway? Isn't it full of homos humping each other from what we read?

[McGavin999]

Sorry, I don't believe this. It would take to long to do. Those kinds of "safeguards" would take months to put into place and I seriously doubt we would ask that of the queen.

[mewzilla]

Didn't the Queen have some loony barge into her bedchamber not too long ago? Hope security's improved since then.

[Lessismore]

I wouldn't underestimate British security.

It has withstood the Nazi's and the IRA, after all.

[Prodigal Son]

Aye, so she did. Of course, she didn't have 5,000 policeman on the security detail at the time either. The Queen moves about fairly openly here. I've been within a few paces of her myself. The British people react to her basically in the same manner that Americans react to an American President when he is out and about on the streets in the USA. Tony Blair gets no such treatment.

President Bush is going to be fine. I wouldn't like to see him present an image of our nation as one of seclusion and insulation. If he (and we by proxy) doesn't trust anyone how can we expect anyone else to ally with and trust us?