Queen Elizabeth’s visits with presidents often didn’t go as planned

• Queen Elizabeth II met with more U.S. presidents than any other head of state.
• Those meetings often got the most attention for their unscripted moments.
• The queen’s sense of humor enabled her to dispense with protocol and overlook presidential faux pas.

WASHINGTON – At the start of her reign, Britain’s 25-year-old Queen Elizabeth II got some crucial advice from Winston Churchill: Stay close to the Americans.

“And that’s exactly what she did,” said Anita McBride, a board member of the White House Historical Association and former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush.