Queen: You Can Bring Only 3 Choppers, Obama
New rules after the president’s entourage wrecked her garden in 2011
Her majesty insisted President Obama bring no more than three choppers to her 90th birthday celebration.
After his entourage of twelve helicopters ruined the grass in Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle gardens during a 2011 visit, the Obama administration’s attempts to bring an extensive security detail were no match for the Queen’s insistence.
The Queen called President Obama’s entourage “over the top,” and refused to yield in her scaled back security demands.
According to the Deccan Herald:
The Queen called Obama’s bevy of choppers “over the top”, meaning the Secret Service had to rethink their plans to land about six aircraft in the 300-year-old gardens of her main residence.
“It was a write-off and the Queen was not amused,” ‘Daily Express’ quoted a royal source as saying.
“Her Majesty refused to back down and said, ‘three helicopters only’. The Secret Service had to go away and think about their plan. The President’s officials were told that the Queen regarded Windsor Castle as her family home and the most important of all royal residences,” the report said.
“She rarely imposes her will but when she does people listen – it just took the US Secret Service agents a little time to realise that,” the source said.
The Queen, whose 90th birthday was celebrated recently, said there was no chance Obama’s extensive security backup would be accompanying him to Windsor Castle.
Her insistence came after Obama’s helicopters damaged the grass when half a dozen of them landed during his last visit in 2011.The engines’ heat scorched the grounds and the wheels left divots in one of the UK’s oldest lawns, planted during the reign of Queen Anne in the early 1700s.
The Queen said only three helicopters, including the president’s personal aircraft Marine One, could land on the lawn when Obama, 54, and his wife, Michelle, 52, came for dinner with the monarch and Prince Philip to celebrate her 90th birthday, the report said.An insider said US aides refused to change their plans on security grounds but came around to the Queen’s wishes eventually.
There’s a joke about the Revolutionary War and British subjugation in here somewhere.
But the lesson is clear — a woman never forgets a man whose vanity destroyed her garden.
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Comments
point of order: Moo-chelle is no lady, “first” or otherwise.
The Queen – Get off my lawn, you arrogant ass!
The most insolent man in the world lives vicariously through himself. He requires six choppers to carry his ego, his entourage and his lecturing finger.
Long Live the Queen!
The Queen is giving him a very polite hint to land the choppers somewhere else ( i.e. an airfield ).
The “Narcissist-In-Chief” has a huge ego. He can’t handle someone saying “no” to him. Its going to be interesting to see what form the revenge takes.
I think she’s giving him a hint to land them somewhere else, all right.
Like maybe France.
Its going to be interesting to see what form the revenge takes.
It’s probably going to be something drastic, like not giving her another ipod filled with his speeches.
I think the Queen may be delighted with that threat/punishment.
It may take awhile, but the “Narcissist-In-Chief” will not forget/forgive this. He’ll lash out in some way.
The Queen must be chuckling inside, knowing she’s going to outlast another terrible US president.
Well the need for six+ choppers, a half dozen aircraft not including AF1, hundreds of field agents etc. is a result of the unionization of the Secret Service.
It is all about maximizing the amount of union dues paid to the union.
One of the greatest things any President and Congress could do would be to get rid of the public sector unions. Then get rid of government workers about 100 at a time. The yearly savings could be hundreds of billions.
No entity that hires people to work for them should be considered a social full-employment system. I.e. don’t hire people just to put them to work.
I’ll do you one better Amercan, RIF every position created in the past ten years THEN RIF 50% of the remaining positions. When the bureaucrats scream, challenge them to identify and remove regulations that require to people to enforce.
… his entourage of twelve helicopters ruined the grass in Queen Elizabeth’s Windsor Castle gardens…
The guy ruins everything he touches.
Since al-Chicagi can’t land the ‘choppers on the lawn, make him use the servant’s entrance.
Das raciss!
Oh no! I was thinking the exact same thing.
She should say, “Young man, you can make your delivery around at the side kitchen door but hurry because we are expecting the President of The United States any moment now.”
Why did this story make the news? Is somebody trying to get Obama’s attention?
In so many other diplomatic occurrences, Obama has shown himself ignorant of the basics of protocol and courtesy through sheer inattention. He probably did not know how many helicopters he had with him before, or that damage to the lawn was even an issue. There is so much of his job function that he refuses to hear about. Instead, he picks poor-quality political appointees, and lets them run amuck.
That’s about 12 more than he sent to Benghazi.
Obama lacks even the common courtesy of a common man. He has ghetto manners even though he was never raised in one. A few hundred years ago an Englishman said if beggars had horses they would ride people in the ground. obama is “historically” the coarsest, the rudest, most vulgar, and most ignorant president we have ever had. Perhaps he is trying to shame and embarrass the USA but gross behavior is his legacy.
Why does he need ANY security? It’s WINDSOR CASTLE. It’s more secure than the White House, because it is an ACTUAL CASTLE.
Obama bringing so much security is an implied insult to the British (insinuating that they can’t provide security for dignitaries) and the Queen was right to perceive the insult and refuse it.
There’s a train line right up to the back door of the castle. Queen Victoria had it built. Surely a special train from Heathrow can be arranged at a fraction of the cost.
You’d think someone who plays as much golf as President Obama would have some respect for someone else’s very nice lawn. You’d be wrong, though!