May 7 (Bloomberg) -- More than 230 years after the American Declaration of Independence, English royalty can still set the former colonies atwitter.

Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K. head of state, arrives in Washington today, part of a weeklong visit to the U.S. to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia.

Such is the queen's status that President George W. Bush is devoting two of his evenings, tonight and tomorrow, to dinners with the monarch, including the first white tie and tails affair of his presidency. Her arrival on the south lawn of the White House this afternoon will be witnessed by 7,000 invited guests.

``It's exciting,'' said Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for First Lady Laura Bush. ``And let's face it, all Americans are a bit intrigued by royalty,''

There will be no policy to debate, no treaties to discuss and no agreements to reach. Conversations with the queen will be ``chit-chat,'' according to Reginald Dale, senior fellow in the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Bringing up the major issues of the alliance between the U.S. and Britain would be ``extraordinarily bad form,'' Dale said.

The 81-year-old queen ``does not have a role in setting policy and is not meant to take political positions,'' he said.

Still, Iraq may not be entirely inescapable. The queen's grandson, Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, will serve with his military regiment in Iraq later this year.

Proud Grandmother

``She is very proud of her grandson and if that came up, it would only be in the family context,'' Dale said. ``It wouldn't be in the context of a political debate.''

The queen's visit is ``making a statement,'' McDonough said. ``She's underscoring the close tie and friendship we share, and the deep historical ties.''

The Bush White House is making a reciprocal statement with the state dinner for queen and 134 guests. The white tie affair, the most formal type of dinner, is only the third such event at the White House for a visiting dignitary since at least 1980, according to McDonough.

``This is truly a demonstration of respect, and underscores the formality of this,'' she said.

The first lady, her social secretary Amy Zantzinger and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford have planned out a five-course meal. The guests will be seated at 13 tables in the State Dining Room. Tomorrow night, the British embassy will host the Bushes and other dignitaries.

The `Texas Son'

This is the third time Bush will greet the queen. The first was 16 years ago, when his father George H.W. Bush was president. In her memoir, former first lady Barbara Bush recounts that during lunch, she jokingly told Queen Elizabeth she had put their ``Texas son as far away from her as possible at the table and had told him that he was not allowed to say a word to her.''

The queen asked the ``Texas son,'' George W. Bush, why that was and whether he was ``the black sheep in the family?'' Bush said he guessed that was the case and asked the queen who was the black sheep in her family. She laughed and didn't answer. The conversation then shifted to Bush's cowboy boots, according to Barbara Bush's account.

The queen and her husband, Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, are making their fourth state visit to the U.S. On May 4, Vice President Dick Cheney accompanied them on a tour of Jamestown, site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World.

Royal Hobby

On Saturday, the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the Kentucky Derby, watching from the balcony of a private suite as Street Sense won the race. ``Probably her biggest single hobby is horse racing,'' Dale said.

While in Washington, the queen tomorrow stops at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and she will lay a wreath at the World War II memorial on the National Mall. She also will meet young patients at the Children's National Medical Center.

In a nod to global-warming concerns, Queen Elizabeth will offset the carbon dioxide emissions from her trip. The emissions from her aircraft travel will be calculated and their environmental cost reimbursed using reforestation projects or research into carbon-neutral forms of energy generation, according to Buckingham Palace.

Many of those who may come in contact with the queen are getting royal protocol tutorials.

The royal family's Web site says men bow their necks from the head only, and women can do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simply to shake hands, it says, though only if the queen offers first.

``As for people who touch the queen, we don't take action against them, but it is an unusual gesture,'' a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace, who by tradition stays anonymous, said in a telephone interview. ``It is a sign of respect, and most people don't embrace a head of state no matter who they are.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at Jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 6, 2007 21:57 EDT