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!"

In an interview with ABC's Nick Watt for "Good Morning America," the queen's press secretary, Penny Russell-Smith, categorically refused to comment on the number of tiaras in the queen's traveling wardrobe, saying only that "when it comes to her wardrobe, all I can say is, it's always a surprise."

Bearing that in mind, there is a certain protocol that guides the queen's official visits, even going so far as to determine what her wardrobe will be.

Lacey told ABCNEWS.com that "while I am no expert on this subject, I would imagine that her wardrobe for this trip would have been planned at least six months in advance."

The queen's clothes may not reflect the glamour evoked by her late daughter-in-law, Diana, princess of Wales, but they do not aspire to either.

As Lacey pointed out, "her clothes must be appropriate to the occasion. She can dress imaginatively, but only within certain parameters."

"Thus," he said, "she is always attired in bright colors during her official visits, to ensure that she stands out in a crowd. Her personal taste may tend more toward classic English tweed and camouflage colors, but in this case, it's entirely subservient to her royal duties."

"That said," he added, "she never has a morning when she wakes up and wonders: what am I to wear to meet so-and-so. It's all planned, down to the details of which hat she will wear to go with which outfit."

As befits a constitutional monarch, the queen's wardrobe is entirely British.

Her clothes are made by a variety of London designers -- Stewart Parvin, Peter Erione, Karl Ludwig Rehse. Her hats are often commissioned from the legendary milliner Freddie Fox.

But the greatest influence on the queen's style -- which, as Lacey admitted to ABCNEWS.com, is "not particularly fashion-conscious" -- is her dresser.

This position used to belong exclusively -- and somewhat unorthodoxly -- to the queen's Scottish nanny, Margaret "Bobo" MacDonald, who would oversee all her costumes.

Today, it's the preserve of senior dresser Angela Kelly, and the queen's dressmaker Alison Pordum. Together, the two women decide what the monarch will wear to the various events scheduled on her overseas visits.

But if all this sounds rather grand, according to Lacey, it isn't.

He insisted that "The queen is actually quite prudent in these matters. It's customary to get a few outfits made for such important overseas visits, but the final selection is always a mix of old and new items."

Lacey touted the fact that "The queen has kept to the same royal budget for nearly 17 years," as evidence of her frugality.

Indeed, unlike the U.S. president, the queen does not have a private plane. For trips such as the current state visit to the United States, she charters a plane from a commercial airline. This time, it's a Boeing 777.

And, in a first of sorts, the carbon dioxide emissions from the journey will be offset by a donation to an environmental charity.

So, in an age of demanding celebrities, who expect everything from luxury candles to "kabbalah water" to grace their presence when they travel, what are the queen's requirements for an overseas visit?

Does she travel with an entourage?

Well, strictly speaking, yes. Although when one considers that this group often includes the British foreign secretary, as it does on this current engagement, it's probably wise to hold off on the comparisons to Hollywood movie stars.

When Lacey was asked about the queen's food requirements on overseas visits, he said emphatically, "I have never known her to travel with a chef, or insist on any particular type of food during her trips."

It seems that the queen's only food-related indulgence is her practice of traveling with plenty of bottles of British Malvern still water -- for safety reasons -- to prepare the perfect cup of English tea. Oh, and there's one more -- her enjoyment of low-fat breakfast cereal, stored always in Tupperware containers, a detail that even made it into last year's Oscar-winning film "The Queen."

According to Lacey, the queen definitely "won't be carrying her own chinaware onboard the flight to the United States."

But chances are:, there will be a few bottles of Malvern water and a Tupperware box or two filled with cereal, accompanying her on this journey across the Atlantic.

Fabiola Antezana contributed to the reporting of this piece