Obama pays warm tribute to our ‘enduring’ Queen

The US President paid tribute to her 60 years on the throne, saying that although presidents and prime ministers have come and gone, her “reign has endured”.

In a video message posted on the White House website, he said the Queen was a living witness to the power of the alliance between the two nations, which have shared a “special relationship”.

The address from the President said: “Your majesty, on the historic occasion of your Jubilee, Michelle and I send you and all the British people and members of the Commonwealth the heartfelt congratulations of the American people,”

“In war and in peace, in times of plenty and in times of hardship, the United States and the United Kingdom have shared a special relationship.

“While many presidents and prime ministers have come and gone, your majesty’s reign has endured.

“We have stood tall and strong and faced some of the greatest challenges this world has known.

“As I said last year at Buckingham Palace, that makes your majesty both a living witness to the power of our alliance and a chief source of its resilience.

“As a steadfast ally, loyal friend and tireless leader, your majesty has set an example of resolve that will be long celebrated and as we work together to build a better future for the next generation, it is gratifying to know that the bonds between our nations remain indispensable to our two countries and the world.

“In honour of your 60 extraordinary years on the throne, communities across the commonwealth have lit thousands of Jubilee beacons.

“May the light of your majesty’s crown reign supreme for many years to come.”

The US president’s father, also Barack Obama, was born in Kenya when it was part of the British Empire, before moving to the United States and beginning a degree in business administration in autumn 1959, aged 23.

Mr Obama senior met a white American called Ann Dunham on a Russian language course at the University of Hawaii in 1960. The following year they married and had a son, who went on to be elected the first black US president in 2008.

The message recorded by Mr Obama reflects the warm relationship between the president and the UK, which was demonstrated in a visit to the White House earlier this year by Prime Minister David Cameron.

His arrival was marked with a 19 gun salute and other formalities which are normally associated with a state visit.