U.S. President Obama to visit the UK in March

LONDON: The United States President Barack Obama will pay a state visit to the United Kingdom next March, Samantha Cohen, Press Secretary to The Queen announced on Thursday.

President Obama accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to visit the UK. He will be joined by the first lady Michelle Obama and they will stay at Buckingham Palace.

The state visit is scheduled to take place from May 24 to May 26, 2011. This will be the first state visit of the U.S. leader to a European country. State visits are formal visits by foreign heads of state in order to strengthening relationships between nations.

Obama visited London in April 2009 in order to participate in the G20 summit and met The Queen at Buckingham Palace. He met with Prime Minister David Cameron in Washington D.C. last year.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh have made four State Visits to the U.S., the first being in October 1957 and the latest in May 2007. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited New York in 2010, where Queen Elizabeth II addressed the United Nations.

The last U.S. state visit to the UK took place in June 2008 as former President George W Bush and Mrs Bush visited The Queen at Windsor Castle.

(BNO NEWS )