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Inside, the Queen reminded the 400 Americans that Britannia was essentially retracing a stretch of Sir Francis Drake's 1579 route up the Pacific Coast. He "claimed this territory as 'Nova Albion' for the first Queen Elizabeth," she said, "and 'for the Queen's successors forever.' " Smile. Pause. "I am happy, though, to give you an immediate assurance that I have not come here today to press that claim." (She failed to deliver the kicker that the Nova Albion/California natives at the time, utterly wowed by their godlike English visitor, lavished Drake with gifts and all conceivable hospitality.)
But seriously, the Queen continued, turning to the matter of the Falklands war, "The support of your Government and of the American people touched us deeply and demonstrated to the world that our close relationship is based on our shared commitments to the same values." The Queen ordinarily avoids public statements that smack at all of politics. Expressing gratitude to an old ally suddenly seemed a major purpose of her visit.
There were other constituencies to tend to as well. At the British Home in Sierra Madre, a retirement camp for expatriates, the Queen tramped from stucco bungalow to bungalow, pleasing the 38 residents almost unbearably. The oldest, Sybil Jones-Bateman, 97, gave Her Majesty a homemade tea cozy and a collectively sewn quilt for the infant Prince William.
Fifteen minutes away at the City of Hope National Medical Center was a pediatric research center, endowed by a British couple, for the Queen to dedicate and tour. Outside, she stooped to talk with young patients, all seriously ill, some with limbs amputated. When she reached to shake one boy's hand, for a terrible moment it seemed as if it had come off; the limb turned out to be a china toy, and the imperturbable Queen passed it to one of her ladies in waiting and continued chatting.
In London, the Queen meets on Tuesdays with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Last Tuesday, set aside for a presidential howdy, was the day the storms turned vicious and the schedules became a muddle. One of the intended high points of the week, the horseback ride of the President and the Queen around the ranch, was scratched. Then, with the twisting, barely paved, 1½-lane, 7-mile road up to the ranch flooded out in half a dozen spots, the visit was almost canceled altogether. No, wait, it was definitely on. But British reporters could not come. "This will not do!" bellowed Paul Callan of the Daily Mirror at a White House aide. 'The British press will storm the ranch!" All right already, you can come.
Reagan, whose invitation to the Queen last June at Windsor Castle had been specifically to his ranch, was determined that the show go on, as was Nancy. "You read the President's mind," one of his aides speculated, "and it seems to be saying, 'Gee, just think, the Queen came to lunch at my house.' "