Obama lunches with queen ahead of Britain's tough EU vote
LONDON --The official reason for President Obama and the first lady visiting London Friday is a lunch with the Queen Elizabeth II totoast her 90th birthday. But the timing is very controversial, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.
The president is trying to help Prime Minister David Cameron win a tough upcoming vote. He's trying to convince Britons to stay members of the European Union, the 28-nation club that binds European countries together.
In an op-ed in Friday's "Telegraph," the president wrote, "As your friend, let me say that the EU makes Britain even greater."
But skeptics, including London Mayor Boris Johnson, lashed out at Mr. Obama, accusing him of being a bully.
"The U.S. guards its democracy with more hysterical jealousy than any other country on Earth. ... It is a breathtaking example of the principle of 'do-as-I-say-but-not-as-I-do,"' Johnson wrote in "The Sun."
Mr. Obama will hold a news conference with Cameron Friday to emphasize their "special relationship," and he'll end the day on a less scandalous note: dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, better known as William and Kate.