President Barack Obama accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to make a state visit to the United Kingdom May 24-26, according to a Buckingham Palace statement.
It will be the first presidential state visit to the U.K. since George W. Bush’s in November 2003. Bush also stayed with the queen at Windsor Castle, west of London, in 2008, and Obama met the British monarch at Buckingham Palace, her London home, during the Group of 20 summit in 2009.
“We are very pleased that this visit is taking place,” Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman, Steve Field, told reporters in London today. “It’s a sign of the strong and enduring relationship between our two countries.”
Cameron extended the invitation, on behalf of the queen, in July during his first trip to the United States as prime minister.
In Washington, Jay Carney, Obama’s chief spokesman, said the visit is “a sign of strength of the special relationship between our two countries.”
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