Obama and Queen Elizabeth take a royal road trip around Windsor Castle

After the intrigue of their first encounter and the formality of the second, President Obama and Queen Elizabeth II settled in for a decidedly low-key lunch Friday to mark the British monarch’s 90th birthday.

At Windsor Castle some 20 miles west of Buckingham Palace, site of the last two meetings, Elizabeth welcomed both the president and First Lady Michelle Obama with conspicuous informality. Prince Philip even picked up the couple in a Range Rover when they touched down after a Marine One trip from central London.

Full coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday

With Obama in the passenger seat and the queen alongside Michelle Obama in the back, the foursome made the short trip onto the meticulous grounds of the 11th-century castle to pose for a photo briefly in the Oak Room, “full of mirrors,” the queen was heard saying, then sitting down for a meal.

The trip appeared designed to signal both the respect and affection the queen is said to have for Obama, the 12th U.S. president to serve during her historic reign, on what is likely his final trip to the United Kingdom as he nears the end of his presidency.

Obama also met with Prime Minister David Cameron followed by a joint news conference, where he repeated his case for Britons to vote against a referendum over whether to sever ties with the European Union. Obama acknowledged controversy here over his meddling in internal affairs, but wrote in the Daily Telegraph that he had another reason to visit.

“I confess: I do want to wish Her Majesty a happy birthday in person,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Obama called the queen “a source of inspiration” and “truly one of my favorite people.”

“She is an astonishing person and a real jewel to the world, not just to the United Kingdom,” he said.

The Obamas first met the queen at Buckingham Palace just months after the president took office in 2009. The stay was marked by what seemed to be a breach of royal protocol when the queen and Michelle Obama walked briefly with arms around one another. The president gave the long-reigning British leader an iPod, also raising eyebrows.

The Obamas returned for a state dinner two years later, where another minor row erupted as Obama briefly continued to deliver a toast he was giving over the first notes of “God Save the Queen.” The president’s gifts that time were more elaborate, though, and included a collection of rare memorabilia and photographs highlighting the 1939 state visit to the U.S. by King George VI, Elizabeth’s father.

On Friday, for a roughly hour-long lunch celebrating the queen’s birthday, Obama brought another gift meant to invoke nostalgia. In a rectangular box wrapped in gold paper embossed with the presidential seal was a custom photo album that documented her meetings with the 11 presidents she’s visited with personally.

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Obama’s time at Downing Street will be sandwiched between royal meals. The Obamas were to attend dinner at Kensington Palace with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as well as Prince Harry.

Whether dinner could top the experience earlier with the queen and her husband seemed unlikely.

“I have never been driven by a Duke of Edinburgh before,” Obama said of the short jaunt in the Range Rover. “I can report that it was very smooth riding.”

Follow @mikememoli for more coverage of the president’s trip.

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