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Charles and Camilla head for White House

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 11:34 CST

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.

Source: REUTERS

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