Gifts Given & Received During State and Other Visits

[User0501]

Please fell free to discuss gifts given by HM The Queen & The Duke of Edinburgh to the visiting Head of State & the host Head of State as well gifts received by Her Majesty and His Royal Highness from the visiting Head of State as well as the host Head of State.

To start,President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette “High Desert Princess” with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.
President and Mrs. Bush gave The Prince Philip an exclusive sterling silver eagle box by Tiffany & Co. with personal inscription on the inside lid.
President and Mrs. Bush gave Their Majesties a leather presentation box filled with a collection of documents from the National Archives. One of the items was a copy of an original letter from President Roosevelt to her father, King George, written in 1938. There were also photos from previous royal visits and a DVD of the footage from the Queen’s visit to the United States when she was Princess Elizabeth in 1951.
Their Majesties gave President Bush a sterling silver oversized plate by William & Son with gold seals including: the Presidential seal, the Royal seal and a center seal with the star of Texas surrounded by roses. There was a personal inscription on the back of the plate. They gave Mrs. Bush a gold and crystal clock with the Royal seal by William & Son.

 

[User0501]

US President George W. Bush's State Visit to The UK (18 - 21 November 2003).

The First Lady received a jewellery box made by The Queen's nephew Viscount Linly from The Queen.
President Bush received a solid silver rule engraved with the royal cypher & the US Presidential Seal,and a specially-bound copy of The Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration catalogue of a recent Queen's Gallery exhibition from the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Bushes gave the royal couple a specially commissioned set of China.

 

[User0501]

Italian State Visit to the UK (15 March 2003).

The gift given to the President of The Republic of Italy from The Queen & The Duke of Edinburgh : A pair of sterling silver reproduction Charles II goblets with gold washed interior.One is engraved with The Queen's cipher & the other with the Italian Presidential cipher.
The gift given to Siagnora Ciampi from The Queen & The Duke of Edinburgh : A hand crafted jewellery box in a special design by David Linley.It is made out of Swiss Pear with inlays of Ripple Sycamore marking the Royal cipher on the lid.
The gift given to The Queen from the President of the Republic of Italy & Siagnora Ciampi : a small gold box with blue enamel lid,depicting the presidential residence,Giardino Pontificio Sul Quirinal.
The gift given to The Duke of Edinburgh from the President of the Republic of Italy & Siagnora Ciampi : A dark,red leather desk-set,with blotter.

 

[User0501]

HIM Emperor Akihito & HIM Empress Michikio's Official Visit to The UK (May 2007).

Queen Elizabeth II presents a gift of a silver rimmed crystal bowl to the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan who in return presented The Queen and Prince Philip with a shell and lacquer work decorative box in the Carnarvon Room, Buckingham Palace, London, Tuesday May 29, 2007. The Japanese monarchs are on a 10-day tour of Europe.

 

[agogo]

Really, what does she do with all of the state gifts? There must be a massive royal gift warehouse somewhere in London.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Not neccessarily, she could put these gifts to good use, or she could store them somewhere and bring them out each time the giver returns.

 

[Kasumi]

Weird state gifts for British royals

It's not just jewels in the Royal family swag bag - Telegraph
For every magnificent suite of Bahraini blood diamonds staining the Countess of Wessex’s conscience, there are barrowloads of bizarre bric-à-brac, livestock, deadstock and random foodstuffs handed over as state gifts.
When Sri Lanka presented the Duke of Edinburgh with a baby elephant (with nary a thought as to how it might fit into his Ryanair hand luggage), it eventually found a home in London Zoo. Similarly, Princess Anne was given a brown Syberian bear by the Soviet Union, Prince Andrew had to nod and smile as he cradled his newborn Gambian crocodile and a pair of sloths were gifted to the Queen in Brazil in 1968.
Official gifts aren’t the property of the recipient, but are considered to have been received on behalf of the monarch. Royals who carry out foreign tours tend to bring home the most booty, and are allowed full use of the item for their lifetime, after which the gift passes back to the Queen.
It is she who then decides whether the two bags of basmati rice given to Prince Andrew by the Pakistan High Commission should be cooked and served with a tasty korma, displayed under glass at Buckingham Palace or thoughtfully passed down as an edible dowry to Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Providing, of course, their mother doesn’t trough them first.
All presents are painstakingly logged and listed. Thus, we know that in 2008 the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were given two wristbands, two baseball caps, four T-shirts and 18 CDs by the Bob Marley Museum in Jamaica: all of which conjure up a disturbing image of Charles and Camilla reggae-dancing that is almost impossible to expunge.
Until, that is, you consider the fly swat, finger puppets and self-assembly golf club kindly proffered by odd (in every sense) members of the public.

Sorry for posting this article here, I'm not sure it belongs this thread.

 

[Warren]

Chocolate Windsor Castle, plastic angel and gnome among official gifts to Royal family - Telegraph

Chocolate Windsor Castle, plastic angel and gnome among official gifts to Royal family
From the weird to the wonderful, what the Queen and other members of the Royal family were given in 2013

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Some, like a pearl necklace given to the Queen, are nothing short of breathtaking. Others, like an old wheel nut given to the Duke of Kent, are verging on the tacky. Every item on an official list of gifts given to members of the Royal family last year provides a fascinating insight into how various dignitaries, companies and members of the public have tried to solve the issue of what to give someone who wants for nothing - often with hilarious consequences.

During a visit to Canada by the Princess Royal last year, a contemporary artist who had grappled with the issue of what to give her settled on a portrait of the Princess riding a moose. Other gifts she received included a knitted hat with horse's ears, a plastic angel, a gnome and a book called Your Arms Remind Me of Pork Luncheon Meat.

Among the eclectic gifts given to the Duke of Kent were a "locking wheel nut from an old car on a presentational plinth" from Aston Martin, some baking paper and a punnet of cherries.

The Queen, unsurprisingly, enjoyed the most lavish gifts, including a five-strand pearl necklace from the President of the United Arab Emirates, four enamelled scarab beetles from Bangladesh and a diamond and tourmaline brooch from Saskatchewan in Canada. Among the edible items given to the Queen were a chocolate Windsor Castle and a chocolate Irish State Coach from the confectioner Mars, and a gingerbread cathedral given to the Duke of York by the Lord Mayor of Munster.

Official gifts to members of the Royal family are not their private property, but are held by them on behalf of the Queen. They can be consumed, used or displayed by the Royal family, loaned to galleries or, in the case of gifts worth less than £150, given to charity if they are not likely to be used. The list published by Buckingham Palace today covers the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of York, Princess Royal, Earl and Countess of Wessex, Duke of Kent, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra. Separate lists published by Clarence House showed gifts given to the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry.

The Duke of York's gifts included three golf clubs given to him by the hotelier Surinder Arora, an iPad mini from the Open University, a Sea King desk tidy and a plate from the Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Duke of Edinburgh's gifts included a miner's lamp, a bottle of beer, two pairs of cufflinks and a morse code key mounted on wood. Prince Harry's tour of the US netted him a leather flying jacket from Michelle Obama, a falconry glove from the US Air Force and a 3D printed doll of himself.

On a tour of the Middle East last March the Duchess of Cornwall was given a necklace by the Sultan of Oman and the Prince of Wales was given a metal model of King Abdulaziz International Airport.

Princess Alexandra, the Queen's cousin, fared worst of all: she received nothing at all in 2013.