# Monarchs/Royalty Making State Visits to the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877 "2011-06-09T17:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/1 "2011-06-09T17:27:23Z")
Who was the first monarch, European or otherwise, to visit the US after we became a nation? Further, what currently-reigning monarchs have made official state visits to the US? Also, who was the first Pope to visit us? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/2 "2011-06-09T17:30:25Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Who was the first monarch, European or otherwise, to visit the US after we became a nation? > > Further, what currently-reigning monarchs have made official state visits to the US? > > Also, who was the first Pope to visit us? Elizabeth II visited the US [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/04/DI2007050401270.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/04/DI2007050401270.html) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/3 "2011-06-09T17:41:21Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Elizabeth II visited the US > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/04/DI2007050401270.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/04/DI2007050401270.html) So did … either her father, uncle, or grandfather, not sure which. I read about it in one of the _Baseball Hall of Shame_ books, describing an incident which took place at a ball game with the King of England in attendance. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/4 "2011-06-09T17:41:33Z")
You could argue that the US visited Queen Liliʻuokalani of Hawai’i… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/5 "2011-06-09T17:52:18Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > So did … either her father, uncle, or grandfather, not sure which… Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI, visited FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939: [http://historicdistrict.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/fdr-and-george-vi.jpg](http://historicdistrict.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/fdr-and-george-vi.jpg). See here, also: [http://historicdistrict.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/fdr-and-george-vi.jpg](http://historicdistrict.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/fdr-and-george-vi.jpg). He was the first British monarch to visit the U.S. Queen Victoria’s son, the future Edward VII, also visited the U.S. before the Civil War (and drew protests from Irish Americans), but he wasn’t the monarch at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/6 "2011-06-09T18:07:05Z")
Looks like the first Pope to visit the U.S. was Paul VI, in Oct. 1965. He met with President Johnson, [http://www.seawaves.us/na/koe/Lyndon%20Johnson%20and%20Pope%20Paul%20VI%20New%20York%20Oct%204%201965.jpg](http://www.seawaves.us/na/koe/Lyndon%20Johnson%20and%20Pope%20Paul%20VI%20New%20York%20Oct%204%201965.jpg), addressed the UN, [http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/c.jpeg?w=540&h=392](http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/c.jpeg?w=540&h=392), and said Mass at Yankee Stadium, [http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Pope-Paul-VI-Visit-to-America-Mass-at-Yankee-Stadium-October-15-1965-Posters\_i4470328\_.htm](http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Pope-Paul-VI-Visit-to-America-Mass-at-Yankee-Stadium-October-15-1965-Posters_i4470328_.htm). The Mass was referred to in Ira Levin’s thriller _Rosemary’s Baby_, as it happens. I suspect most if not all of the current monarchs have visited the U.S. at one time or another. It might be easier to list who _hasn’t_. This isn’t homework, is it…? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/7 "2011-06-09T18:27:32Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > So did … either her father, uncle, or grandfather, not sure which. I read about it in one of the _Baseball Hall of Shame_ books, describing an incident which took place at a ball game with the King of England in attendance. Impossible. There was no baseball and indeed no United States when there was last a King of England. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/8 "2011-06-09T18:39:58Z")
It looks to me like [King Juan Carlos of Spain](http://www.life.com/image/96793742) has visited Obama at the Whitehouse in 2010. Strangely, I can’t find any photo ops. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/9 "2011-06-09T18:53:22Z")
It also looks like [King Abdullah](http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/jordan) of Jordan has been to the US bunches of times including addressing a Joint Session of Congress March 7, 2007. He’s met with both Clinton and Bush II, and recently met with [Obama](http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/05/17/president-obama-meets-king-abdullah-ii-jordan). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/10 "2011-06-09T18:59:38Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > It looks to me like [King Juan Carlos of Spain](http://www.life.com/image/96793742) has visited Obama at the Whitehouse in 2010. Strangely, I can’t find any photo ops. Here you go: [http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2010/02/private-lunch-at-white-house-president.html](http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2010/02/private-lunch-at-white-house-president.html) ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/11 "2011-06-09T19:10:14Z")
In October 1995 King Harald V of Norway visited the US meeting President Bill Clinton in an official state visit. > **[List of state visits made and received by Harald V of Norway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_visits_made_by_King_Harald_V_of_Norway)** > > Below is a complete list of state visits made and received by Harald V of Norway. Four state visits are usually made each year: two visits by King Harald and Queen Sonja to a foreign head of state and two visits by another head of state to Norway. The number of state visits has increased greatly during the 1900s. King Haakon VII reigned for 52 years from 1905 and made a total of 13 state visits to foreign countries. King Harald V had as of 2016\[update\] reigned for 25 years and had conducted 45 ... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/12 "2011-06-09T19:25:57Z")
In 1860, Edward VII as then Prince of Wales visited the USA. Note that even tho William II was the last King to use the _style_ of “King of England” every British monarch since then has _been_ the King (or Queen) of England, as England is part of the United Kingdom. QEII is Queen of London and pretty much everything else on that island for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/13 "2011-06-09T19:27:39Z")
So is Obama President of Washington? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/14 "2011-06-09T19:31:57Z")
Sorry about the repeated posts, but I have nothing better to do than to speculate on reigning monarchs. President George Bush escorts [Queen Margrethe II](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/mandy64015/Denmark/Margrethe%20-%20state%20visits/1977-11Italy/1978-00Ireland/1979-09China/1981-00Japan/1983-00Spain/1984-03SaudiArabia/1985-10Sweden/1986-00Iceland/1986-02Egypt/1987-02AustraliaNewZealand/1991-02USA/U91115074.jpg) of Denmark during a state dinner in her honor at the White House, February 20. 1991. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/15 "2011-06-09T19:56:33Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > It also looks like [King Abdullah](http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits/jordan) of Jordan has been to the US bunches of times including addressing a Joint Session of Congress March 7, 2007. He’s met with both Clinton and Bush II, and recently met with [Obama](http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/05/17/president-obama-meets-king-abdullah-ii-jordan). I doubt it was a state visit, but when he was a Prince he also [visited either Los Angeles or outer space](http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Abdullah_II_King_Of_Jordan). ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/16 "2011-06-09T19:56:35Z")
The Saudi King has surely made one? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/17 "2011-06-09T20:06:22Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The Saudi King has surely made one? Yes, indeed: [Turkish News - Latest News from Turkey - Hürriyet Daily News](http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=saudi-king-abdullah-meets-obama-at-white-house-2010-06-30) FDR and the Saudi king of the time, Ibn Saud, met aboard the USS _Quincy_ in early 1945, right after the Yalta Conference: [http://donmooreswartales.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/dave-schmidt-5-king-saud.jpg](http://donmooreswartales.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/dave-schmidt-5-king-saud.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/18 "2011-06-09T20:29:39Z")
The U.S. State Department has a site listing [Visits by Foreign Leaders](http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits) by country (and year). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/19 "2011-06-09T20:38:11Z")
According to that State Dept site, the first visit by a monarch was the 1874 visit of King Kalakaua of Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877/20 "2011-06-09T20:43:53Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > The U.S. State Department has a site listing [Visits by Foreign Leaders](http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/visits) by country (and year). I actually saw that site and was confused by the discrepancy. So it doesn’t look like a lot of the visits shown are official state visits ( a lot of them are called “working visits” ). Note that it says for Saudi Arabian visits: > [@](#): > > King Abdullah bin Albdul Aziz Saudi Arabia Attended the G-20 Economic Summit Meeting. November 14-​15, 2008. Which kind of implies that it wasn’t an official state visit yet it doesn’t mention Abdullah’s visit cited by **Elendil’s Heir**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monarchs-royalty-making-state-visits-to-the-us/584877.md?page=2)