A three-part documentary premiering tonight on PBS (check local listings) lets us do more than peek through the keyhole into Queen Elizabeth's private world. In Windsor Castle: A Royal Year, we pull up a gilded chair alongside Her Majesty at lavish parties (with such, um, notable guests as David Hasselhoff), at a wedding and at one of Prince Harry's polo matches.
But what's in it for her? Good PR and a little damage control. The 79-year-old monarch never gives interviews (nor does she in this show), but the cameras reveal her as warm and accessible. We even see her driving herself around town. And while hubby Prince Philip, 84, has a rep "for always putting his foot in read more
The palace is getting ready for the Queen's state visit to the United States to mark the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, at Jamestown, Virginia. Preparations include a private dinner for prominent American ex-pats at Buckingham Palace and a portrait session with the respected US photographer, Annie Leibovitz. On the other side of the Atlantic, President George W Bush - the tenth president to meet the Queen - and his wife Laura prepare to host the only white-tie banquet of his presidency. watch