Michelle, Queen Elizabeth: Fast Friends!
They couldn't come from more diverse backgrounds. One grew up in Chicago, the other with a silver spoon.
CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports from Buckingham Palace there's a new royal odd couple: the First Lady and the Queen!
Michelle Obama was taking in the sights of London last week with daughters Sasha and Malia, and they got to do something very few tourists would dream of: get a private tour of Buckingham Palace, and have tea with the Queen.
The friendship began during a presidential trip in April with an encounter between Queen Elizabeth and Mrs. Obama, a meeting so congenial that, at a later reception -- as they apparently compared their shoes -- the two briefly put their arms around one another.
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That meeting ended with a request from her Majesty that the First Lady keep in touch, and apparently she has, by letter and phone.
Last week, the Obamas toured the tourist Top Ten in London with a little special access, taking in not just the front door of the Prime Minister's residence, but the private backyard too.
They spent three hours in the palace and its gardens, including the Queen's new vegetable patch. That's an interest the Queen and Mrs. Obama share helping to forge a new friendship and keep the transatlantic relationship very warm, indeed.
A source with what MacVicar calls "excellent royal connections" tells CBS News the Queen has told family members she adores Michelle Obama and hopes to see her again soon.