The banquet opens with the Queen making a speech to welcome the US president.<br /><br />She says state visits always serve as a reminder of the "close and longstanding relationship" between the United States and the UK.<br /><br />She makes reference to D-Day, when she says British and American soldiers fought together to defend democracy.<br /><br />She says the UK owes an "immeasurable debt" to the American soldiers who began the liberation of Europe towards the end of World War II.<br />
