Queen Elizabeth to receive Obama and wife, say British reports

September 27th, 2009 LONDON - Queen Mother was angry and defensive after her daughter, the Queen, was criticized by the public for her actions after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car accident in 1997, it has emerged. The Queen's apparent "business-as-usual" approach to take Princes William and Harry to church at Balmoral just hours after Prince Charles had told them of their mother's death had made the public angry.

September 23rd, 2009 Who inspires Prince William? His grandmotherLONDON — Britain's Prince William says his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is his inspiration when it comes to doing good works. The prince told the BBC the queen "has been very inspiring.

September 17th, 2009 LONDON - The younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II destroyed letters from Princess Diana in a bid to protect the British royal family, a new book reveals. The late Princess Margaret told a friend that she had ordered the destruction of large bin bags full of personal papers "because they were so private", says the book - a biography of Queen Elizabeth II's mother, who died in 2002 at age 101.

July 5th, 2009 LONDON - Later this year, Indian President Pratibha Patil will become the first woman non-royal head of state to be hosted by Queen Elizabeth II in her 57-year reign as British monarch. When 'commoner' Patil comes visiting Britain Oct 27-29, she will be only the fourth female head of state to be staying with the Queen on her invitation - all the other 94 have been men.

June 14th, 2009 LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II and Michelle Obama have struck a firm friendship since they first met at the G20 summit in London in April, according to sources. The Queen, in what was suggested to be a sign of close bonding, allegedly let the US First Lady and her daughters to have a rare guided tour of Buckingham Palace during their visit to the capital last week.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Prince Charles is expected to represent Queen Elizabeth at a ceremony to mark the landing of Allied troops on a beach in Normandy, France. Pressure from the White House has forced the French Government to invite the British royal family for the D-Day commemoration ceremony on June 6 in Normandy.

May 17th, 2009 LONDON - As the astounding disclosure in Britain's parliamentary expenses scam continues to roll out names, Queen Elizabeth has expressed her "dismay" privately. "Her Majesty has made clear her displeasure at what she has learnt.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - A collection of personal letters and photographs addressed to a friend by Queen Mary have come into the limelight for the first time and are set to go under the hammer. The collection, spanning half a century, unravels the correspondence between the royal and her friend, Kate Rube, and later Rube's daughter Elizabeth Gillman.

April 18th, 2009 LONDON - Prince Philip has become the longest serving royal consort in Britain after he took duties in 1952. The Duke of Edinburgh's became the consort on February 6, 1952, when his wife Princess Elizabeth was crowned as Queen.

April 13th, 2009 LONDON - British actress Sienna Miller was polled in a men's magazine to be even less sexy than the queen. Miller dropped to 202 in the FHM list of Sexiest Women, thesun.co.uk reports.

April 4th, 2009 LONDON - President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have become the 11th US First Family to meet with the Queen. The Royal meeting is said to have been the most touchy-feely gathering that anyone could ever remember, especially after the Queen and Michelle Obama hugged one another, doing away with the Palace protocol, reports the Mirror.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Prince Philip made a gaffe when U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle met the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

March 26th, 2009 COLOMBO - Two Sri Lankans, members of the British High Commission here, have been honoured by Queen Elizabeth II for their 'long and exceptional service', a statement said here Thursday. Francis Gnanapragasam, part of the defence section of the high commission for almost 30 years, has been awarded an honorary MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) while Mahendra Ratnaweera was awarded for his services following the 2004 tsunami disaster.

December 27th, 2008 LONDON - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has banned staff from revealing details of their work in a bid to prevent further embarrassing leaks of the goings-on in the royal household, according to reports Sunday. More than 200 butlers, cooks and general and cleaning staff are to sign confidentiality contracts by which they could lose their jobs for discussing any aspect of the royal household even with their own families, the News of the World reported.

December 22nd, 2008 LONDON - A former butler to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced by a court in Manchester city Monday to at least six years in prison for child abuse. Paul Kidd was found guilty of abusing underaged boys and possessing more than 18,000 images of child pornography.