He likes his royalty

From the White House fact sheet for the visit of the Windsors --

In honor of the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh the attire for the State Dinner is white tie. This is the first white tie event that the President and Mrs. Bush have hosted.

One obstacle that state dinners have posed for the Bushes is George's extremely early bedtime. Seriously. They seem to be so out of practice on these dinners that they are still using the china chosen by the Clintons, which of course means it will be waiting for Hillary when she moves back in. Unless they break it.

And speaking of royalty, that tricksy administration is doing another suddenly announced Cheney visit to the Middle East --

Vice President Cheney will depart for the Middle East on May 8, 2007. He will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. President Bush has asked the Vice President to travel to the region for discussions with the leaders of these nations on key issues of mutual interest. The Vice President will meet with President Khalifa of the UAE, King Abdullah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and senior officials of their respective governments. The Vice President also will meet with U.S. military commanders and speak with U.S. troops stationed in the Persian Gulf region.

Look for both a SURPRISE visit to Iraq and, given the track record of recent Cheney visits, an increase in terrorist attacks and some new ultimatums from the increasingly unhappy Saudis.

UPDATE 8 MAY: Dan Froomkin has more on Cheney's trip, including the snippet that his daughter Liz is going with him.