WARM autumn sun shone from a cloudless sky. Four US Marines in their dress blues stood to rigid attention. The President and Mrs Bush waited by the White House. But it was not them who more than 100 cameramen were waiting to see.

A black limousine flying the Prince of Wales’s standard drew up on the stroke of 12, and there was Camilla stepping out in a smart indigo wool suit, smiling broadly and showing little sign of anxiety at this iconic moment in her life. She and the Prince stepped forward to greet their hosts, and the shutters clicked like machinegun fire.

Above the White House the Stars and Stripes flew at half-mast out of respect to Rosa Parks, the mother of the civil rights movement, who was buried in Detroit yesterday.

"Hello, very nice to see you, Mr President," the Duchess of Cornwall said, shaking hands and nodding a lot. The President greeted her warmly. The Duchess moved to Laura, dressed in a beige two-piece. "Lovely to meet you," said the Duchess, still nodding.

For 30 seconds the four stood in line before the photographic barrage. "Wonderful weather," the Duchess said to Laura. And that was it; they disappeared inside to lunch in the private dining room.

The royal couple spent most of yesterday at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, culminating in a state dinner given in their honour. The Prince and his wife were only the fifth guests in five years to be treated to a full state banquet in Mr Bush's White House, where the President is known to enjoy early nights and relatively simple living.

But last night, with 130 members of America's political and entertainment elite, they were offered a full spread of Presidential hospitality in a meal of rock shrimp, buffalo tenderloin, wild rice pancakes, Vermont cheese and American wines.

News anchors and members of Mr Bush's cabinet mingled with the designer Oscar de la Renta and Kelsey Grammar, the star of the television series, Frasier, one of the few well known American actors to support the Bush Administration. After dinner, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the pianist Kathryn Stott entertained guests.

The only striking absence from the party was Karl Rove, Mr Bush's chief political strategist, who is under investigation by the Department of Justice for his alleged role in the leaking of the identity of a CIA agent. The New York Times noted today that Mr Bush may have welcomed the royal visit as a "relief from the troubles that have been dogging him".

That relief was tempered somewhat by the Prince's after-dinner toast to Mr Bush, when he made a pointed allusion to climate change.

The Prince, a noted environmentalist, has described global warming as "terrifying", and the subject is expected to dominate the second half of the royal trip, when he will visit an organic farm and speak about the environment in San Francisco. Mr Bush, by contrast, has said that he doubts whether the actions of man are affecting the climate at all.

In his toast the Prince spoke of the "enormous challenges and responsibilities" that faced the 43rd president of the United States.

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