First Lady, Queen Reach Out and Touch

(April 2) -- Media outlets covering Barack Obama's first major trip abroad since becoming president are abuzz with a big question: Did first lady Michelle Obama breach protocol by putting her arm around Britain's Queen Elizabeth?

The Obamas met the monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. The Associated Press reports on how the two couples exchanged gifts -- the Obamas gave the queen an iPod, and the royals gave signed portraits of themselves to the Obamas.

But the bigger headline came out of the reception that Buckingham Palace threw for leaders attending the G-20 summit in London. It was there that Elizabeth rested her hand on Michelle Obama's back. A moment later, the first lady reciprocated.

The small gesture spawned this headline in the Times of London: "Protocol is abandoned as Michelle Obama cozies up to queen."

"It is usually a breach of protocol to touch the queen," the story notes, listing other world leaders who have run afoul of the royal rule. In 1992, for example, Australia's prime minister was called the "Lizard of Oz" after he put his arm around Elizabeth.

Back on this side of the Atlantic, Time takes a more measured look at the incident, explaining the history of the don't-touch rule. The magazine also points out that the queen touched first.

"Michelle Obama put her hand on the queen only after the queen had placed her own hand on the first lady's back as part of their conversation," Time's Howard Chua-Eoan writes. "So there is room for theological argument as to whether the American reciprocity of touch was allowable given the social dynamics of the situation."

The embrace only intensified the spotlight on the first lady, who's being watched by fashion mavens everywhere for how her style plays in Europe. So far, she's getting rave reviews.

Britain's Guardian offers an outfit-by-outfit critique of her look. The paper has been impressed by most of her ensembles, especially the bright yellow dress and black coat she wore as she disembarked Tuesday in London. But they weren't thrilled with the black skirt and white top she chose for her and her husband's private meeting with the queen.

"Michelle's choice of ballerina-length black skirt with layers of net beneath and the pearls all play up her youth," write Jess Cartner-Morley and Simon Chilvers. "This rather results in her looking ever so slightly like she's dressed up to visit her grandparents."

The Chicago Tribune declares Michelle Obama "one of the fab four of the political fashion world in the modern era -- joining Jacqueline Kennedy, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Princess Diana."

The real test, according to the Tribune's Wendy Donahue, will come when Obama and the Bruni-Sarkozy get together Saturday to visit Strasbourg Cathedral in France.

"Former supermodel Bruni-Sarkozy can be expected to look stunning in just about anything," Donahue says. "But if only one contemporary first lady can win a fashion-revolutionary war, we're siding with Michelle Obama."