Charles and Camilla head for White House

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Charles and his
wife, Camilla, headed for the White House on Wednesday for
their first joint visit to the U.S. capital, where memories of
the late Princess Diana’s glamour are still strong.

President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush were
hosting the royal couple for lunch and dinner, and Mrs. Bush
was to accompany Charles and Camilla on a visit to the SEED
School, which offers intensive academic education to urban
students.

The British prince and his princess consort were scheduled
for a three-day stay in Washington, with visits to the National
Institutes of Health, Georgetown University, the National
Building Museum and the Second World War Memorial.

This is the second leg on a week-long U.S. tour that began
in New York City on Tuesday and will include stops in New
Orleans and San Francisco.

In New York, the couple visited Manhattan’s Ground Zero and
dedicated the British Memorial Garden to honor victims of the
September 11, 2001, attacks.

Washington has traditionally been warm to British royalty,
but particularly took to Diana, the prince’s late ex-wife, who
was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.

At a gala in 1990, she attracted hundreds to a
$3,500-a-plate white-tie affair to benefit the London City
Ballet, the Washington Ballet and a Washington home for
children with AIDS.

But perhaps the best-recalled Washington moment for Diana
came in 1985, when she danced at the White House with actor
John Travolta. The mystique of that event was such that the
figure-hugging gown she wore eventually sold for $225,500 at a
charity auction.

Camilla, who married Charles in April after a 35-year love
affair, has been lampooned in some American newspapers. And
unlike Diana, who drew the spotlight and sometimes upstaged her
husband, the Duchess of Cornwall has seemed content to be part
of a duo.

The royal couple will be in Washington through Friday.