Hot dog!

Question: Is it true that Queen Elizabeth was once served hot dogs at the White House?
From: Lisa D. of Spring Lake, MI
Date: March 3, 2005

Gleaves Answers: Feeding the Queen hot dogs isn't exactly our idea of the royal treatment, is it? Nevertheless, it is true that during a 1939 royal visit, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt fed King George VI and Queen Elizabeth hot dogs. (The Queen Elizabeth referenced in 1939 was the mother of the current Queen Elizabeth.)

The 1939 six-day visit was historic -- it was the first time a reigning British monarch had ever set foot in the United States. After spending two days in Washington, DC, enjoying the formalities of a typical state visit -- enthusiastic crowds, entertainment, and receptions at the British embassy and the White House -- the royal couple accompanied the Roosevelts to their home in Hyde Park, New York, for a casual evening and a picnic the following afternoon. It was at this picnic, on the porch of the "Top Cottage" hilltop retreat on the Roosevelt estate, that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth dined from a menu that included Virginia ham, smoked turkey, cranberry jelly, green salad, and -- yes -- hot dogs.

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For an account of the entire visit, and for excellent links to related documents, visit the FDR Library and Museum's, "The Royal Visit: June 7-12th, 1939."