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She was a vivacious young queen when she first saw New York City in 1957, regal in white gloves but as dazzled as any tourist. 'snip'“Nearly two decades later, in 1976, the 50-year-old queen made her second visit to New York, marking the Bicentennial of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain. Now, in the twilight of a reign that has spanned 58 years, one of the longest of any British monarch, the 84-year-old queen is to visit New York on Tuesday for a third time, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. 'snip'In contrast to her first...

When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Goddard Space Flight Center, they dropped in on mission control to listen to an exchange between British-born NASA astronaut C. Michael Foale and the three astronauts aboard the international space station, and later toured an exhibit with British astronaut Piers Sellers, who explained how a spacesuit's life-support system operates. The Washington Post reports that Prince Philip inquired, "What do you do about natural functions?" and "the astronaut gave a discreet answer."Not only this is the most unoriginal question the Prince could have thought to ask, but it is rather rude as well. No...

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, stepped off a chartered British Airways airplane just after 3 p.m. Thursday in Richmond, Va., signaling the beginning of a six-day American trip. It is her first visit to the United States in 16 years. The queen stopped at the end of a red carpet while both British and American National Anthems were played. Her motorcade left shortly afterward. On Thursday evening, she was expected to take a horse-drawn carriage through Colonial Williamsburg. And while the queen represents a monarchy the United States went to some trouble to get rid of, her...

Charles gives US a parting shot By Caroline Davies in San Francisco (Filed: 09/11/2005) San Francisco is the Prince of Wales's "kinda place". He loves its public transport, declaring yesterday: "I'm so glad you still have the wonderful evocative sounds of the trams." That had not changed in the 29 years since the prince was last here, and made him "sad" that Britain had so few left. He was, undoubtedly, thrilled when the mayor, Gavin Newsom, pointed out that his city had the best electrified public transport system in America and a fleet of 1,000 alternative fuel vehicles. It is...

The Prince of Wales was at the White House last week, hoping, the Daily Telegraph reported, "to convince President Bush of the merits of Islam . . . because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since Sept. 11, 2001." This is a drum Prince Charles has been beating for years. In 1993, for example, he scolded those in the West who peddled "unthinking prejudices" about Muslim culture -- for example, "that sharia law of the Islamic world is cruel, barbaric, and unjust." Two months after 9/11, he was lambasting the American attitude toward Islam...

Prince Charles came to America in November to tell us that we don't understand Islam and we don't even try. You talk about a man who has been out of touch with reality for decades in his own personal life and now is going to lecture the White House on the "religion of peace." He says only a few bad apples are causing the problem, but then why don't the many "good apples" demonstrate like crazy about their violent brothers? Instead, their silence is deafening. Let's consider just a few items America has done to benefit Islam in this great...

Associated Press photo Prince Charles is greeted by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco upon his arrival at the New Orleans Airport Friday, Nov. 4, 2005. NEW ORLEANS -- Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, flew into New Orleans on Friday for a brief glimpse of the ravaged city and a chance to meet a few of the hundreds of thousands of residents whose lives were turned upside-down by Hurricane Katrina. After an airport ceremony to greet their flight from Washington, the couple went to the impoverished lower Ninth Ward, which was all but obliterated when water breached one of the...

The royal couple surveyed the damage from a levee Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have met survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. They visited the lower Ninth Ward, one of the areas worst hit, and climbed a levee to view the storm's destruction. When asked by a reporter what struck him most, the prince said: "Incredible resilience, despite awful loss. Where there's life, there's hope." The royal couple, on the fifth day of their US tour, also went to a Catholic school in the French Quarter. The couple travelled to the lower Ninth Ward in a convoy...

By the south portico of the White House this week, alongside the world's most powerful couple and the heir to the British throne, stood a shy, perplexed-looking woman, comfortably into her 50s. While the Bushes and the Prince of Wales stared professionally at the cameras, all stiff jaws and distant gazes, the little-known figure in their midst gave an uncertain squint and a goofy smile. This whole circus of public life was obviously as strange to her as the average snowball can be to a lowland Ethiopian. [snip]"Over 'ere, Duchess!" shouted one of the photographers from the London press corps,...

Students at Cathedral Academy have faced a lot of TV cameras and reporters' notepads this year. After all, the red-brick school was the first to reopen in New Orleans' French Quarter after Hurricane Katrina barreled in. But Friday will be different. As Joseph Mirabin, 6, put it, they'll get to see "a real prince -- like Prince Charming." It's Prince Charles' first official international visit since his second marriage -- a mission to underscore trans-Atlantic ties and win public acceptance for his marriage to Camilla, his longtime love and now Duchess of Cornwall. Those goals haven't been at all apparent...

THE PRINCE OF WALES and his new bride have taken America by storm this week. Across the nation, a frenzy of monarcho-mania has once again swept this great republic. Office workers clasping DVDs of the royal wedding in April have been hanging out of high-rise windows trying to catch a glimpse of the Prince’s motorcade as it sweeps triumphantly through city streets. Special souvenir copies of The Wall Street Journal with cut-out-and-keep guides to the couple’s couture have been flying off newsstands. Hairdressers are reporting a sudden surge in demand from middle-aged women for a new style — Camilla bangs....

REGAL ROSES: Bearing flowers, Charles and Camilla visit Hanover Square, where they left a tribute to British 9/11 victims. Photo: AFP/Getty Diana would be amused. Her successor and former rival, Camilla Parker Bowles, failed spectacularly in her attempt to wow Manhattan society with her sartorial splendor last night. Dressed in an unflattering Anthony Price navy velvet frock with a fussy oversized chiffon collar, the Duchess of Cornwall arrived at a chi-chi cocktail party looking more like an escapee from the choirboy pew of Westminister Abbey than the guest of honor. Earlier, Camilla caused quite a stir when she chose...

LONDON -- Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will visit hurricane-hit New Orleans on their first official overseas jaunt since marrying in April, the prince's office confirmed Monday. Charles' Clarence House office would not reveal the exact timing or itinerary for the flying visit, although the couple are expected to meet emergency workers and residents in an area ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. The 56-year-old heir to the throne, his wife and a wardrobe full of dresses jet off Tuesday on a tour designed to celebrate trans-Atlantic ties, promote Charles' environmentalist causes -- and test reaction to his...

LONDON - Prince Charles says he believes the pace of climate change is terrifying and people are becoming too dependent on technology. In a rare TV interview ahead of his official tour of the United States next week, Charles expressed concern that economic progress is "upsetting the whole balance of nature." "You know, if you look at the latest figures on climate change and global warming ... they're terrifying, terrifying," Charles told CBS' "60 Minutes" in the interview aired Sunday. The prince is a keen environmentalist, but his office declined to say whether Charles will raise the issue of climate...

The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11. The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths. The Duchess of Cornwall will accompany her husband The Prince raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001. The gathering took place just two months after the attacks...

The crisis engulfing the White House has forced the Prince of Wales to alter his plans to visit hurricane-ravaged New Orleans over the next week. A visit to the city was planned by Clarence House and Downing Street to display the compassionate side of the Duchess of Cornwall. However, the trip has been put on hold by the White House, which is anxious that it may draw attention back to President George Bush's much-criticised response to the Katrina victims. The New Orleans visit has been left off the itinerary and, if it happens at all, will be little more than...

The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11. The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths. The Prince raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001. The gathering took place just two months after the attacks on New York and Washington. "I find the...

· Shadow of Diana over visit accompanied by Camilla · I struggle to be taken seriously, he tells CBS TV Prince Charles will kick start a week long tour of the US tomorrow night with the rather gloomy hope that people will appreciate him better when he is dead. He might have been referring to his reputation with parts of the British public, but the sentiment equally applies to America. His last official trip 20 years ago was overshadowed by Princess Diana's dance with John Travolta at a White House dinner, and since then America has been considered by some...