Once again, George W. Bush said, Britain 'refused to cower when its people were bombed', just as it did during World War II.
The newlywed British royal couple - Charles, Prince of Wales, 56, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, 58, - made their gala debut in U.S. society at the formal White House dinner where buffalo meat was served.
Charles sat at the same table as the elder former president George H.W. Bush and Nancy Reagan, widow of the late president Ronald Reagan. President Bush, who raised his glass in a toast but never took a sip, sat at a separate table next to Camilla.
The tables were pushed close together in the formal state dining room, intimately lit by burning candles.
Charles toasted Bush as a strong leader of a country that has taken the lead on many issues.
America has come a long way, Charles said, referring to the burial Wednesday of Rosa Parks, the humble seamstress who set fire to the civil rights movement by taking a bus seat marked for whites only in the U.S. South in the 1950s.
'Truly, the burden of the world rests on your shoulders,' Charles said.
Bush swore off alcohol after overindulging during his younger years.
