The Queen Is Coming

LONDON, May 3, 2007 — -- The queen is coming to the United States.

It will be the 80th state visit by a monarch who -- as her official Web site states -- has traveled more than any other sovereign in history.

But what goes on behind the scenes of such visits? How long does the palace spend planning these overseas trips? Who prepares her food? And most important, how does she decide what to wear to all the events planned in honor of her visit?

The queen's father, King George VI, was in 1939 the first reigning monarch to travel to United States. It was a visit intended to bolster American support for Britain in the event of a war with Germany.

He and his wife, the late queen mother, availed themselves of President Roosevelt's hospitality, staying at the White House and at Roosevelt's private estate at Hyde Park, N.Y.

While it is unlikely that the queen will follow in her parents' footsteps and choose to stay at the White House, the preparations surrounding her visit are no less elaborate.

Royal expert and biographer Robert Lacey told ABCNEWS.com that "typically, such trips are planned months in advance, right down to the detail of whom she meets and what she wears to meet them."

Each such state visit is preceded by a reconnaissance visit by members of the queen's staff, including but not limited to one of her private secretaries, her press secretary and one of her police protection officers.

Such visits usually involve her staff going to the country in question, liaising with the British Embassy there, and making sure that all the necessary arrangements have been made well in advance of her journey.

When ABCNEWS.com contacted P. J. Johnston, press secretary for the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., he said, "The preparations are endless -- we could go on about it for hours."

"In the last few months," he said, "our meetings have focused on everything from the shared common ground between our two countries to the number of tiaras the queen will be bringing!"