All eyes on Obama as the world comes to London (News Feature)

By Anna Tomforde Mar 31, 2009, 11:38 GMT

London - As the world comes to London for the G20 summit of rich and emerging nations, all eyes will be on the Obamas for a touch of glamour and inspiration at the height of economic gloom.

US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are certain to steal the limelight at a pre-summit reception by Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace Wednesday.

The White House couple have been asked early to Buckingham Palace for a photoshoot and a 20-minute private audience by the queen, as other guests assemble in the palace's lavish state rooms.

The location may be formal but the idea is for the atmosphere to be informal to allow the politicians to relax before the serious discussions begin on Thursday, said the palace.

The dress code is suitably low key, with lounge suits stipulated and spouses also being invited to the event.

The queen, 82, would probably have a chance to chat to all politicians during the reception, which is expected to last about 75 minutes and will end with a group photograph likely to be cherished by participants.

With Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the ex-model wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, apparently having decided not to come to London and instead to meet the Obamas at the NATO summit in Strasbourg later in the week, the US First Lady is assured all the attention.

Society watchers have also been excited by the prospect of catching a glimpse of Svetlana Medvedeva, the wife of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is a socialite and patron of Russian fashion in her own right.

Organizers expect limousines sporting their occupants' national flags to pull up at the palace gate every 90 seconds, their police escorts beating a path through dense London traffic.

Elsewhere in town, bilateral meetings between world leaders are expected to provide fascinating sideshows.

All eyes will be trained on the first encounter between Obama and his Russian counterpart, President Medvedev, which is interesting for both signs of a thawing in relations as for possible breakthroughs on missiles and arms reduction.

For their part, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are expected to display Franco-German entente over their ambition to keep the summit results within the spending power of the participating states.

Sarkozy added spice to the preparations when he announced Tuesday that he would 'walk out' of the summit if no concrete results were achieved.

'If there is no progress in London, there will be an empty chair,' said the irascible Frenchman.

Away from the conference halls and dinner tables, entertainment of a different kind will be provided by tens of thousands of anti- globalization protestors who have vowed to bring London to a standstill Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, four different locations will be targeted by the varied groups of demonstrators, including the Bank of England in the City of London and the US embassy in Grosvenor Square.

On what they have termed Financial Fools Day, demonstrators, reinforced by anarchist groups from Italy, Germany and France, have said they want to lay siege to the Bank of England and burn - the effigies - of bankers.

All over central London, bank fronts, shops and landmark hotels have been boarded up as employers have asked bankers to 'dress down' in jeans and sweaters, or not to come to work at all, on Wednesday to avoid the demonstrators' wrath.

The police, clearly not expecting the protests to pass off peacefully, have deployed up to 10,000 men in an unprecedented security operation to handle what they call a 'fluid and dynamic situation.'

Citizens and workers have been warned that they might find if difficult to get to their usual destinations as public transport networks could be shut down or severely curtailed.

The waterfront ExCel conference in east London, meanwhile, where the summit will be held Thursday, is set to become a 'sterile environment,' according to police.

Anti-car bomb barriers have been put in position and divers have been trawling the river Thames for security. Protestors, according to the police, will be held in 'a demonstration pen.'

On the Dockland Light Railway, closed for the day, only one stop will be open: that where some 2,000 journalists will be disgorged to board special buses for elaborate security procedures.