President Bush visited Britain on behalf of the United States of America.

Air Force One stopped at a bright red carpet and the President strode to join Queen Elizabeth II in a beautiful, ornate 17th-century coach hitched to 6 enormous matched white horses.

The coach proceeded through the streets of London en route to Buckingham Palace, as the Queen and the President waved to the cheering throngs. Then suddenly the right rear horse produced a thunderous, cataclysmic fart that reverberated through the air and rattled the doors of the coach.

Uncomfortable, the reaction of the two powerful figures was to focus their attentions elsewhere and behave as if nothing extraordinary had happened. But the Queen was the first to realize that ignoring what had just happened would be ridiculous.

She explained, "Mr. President, please accept my regrets. I'm sure you understand that there are some things that even a Queen cannot control."

President Bush replied, "Your Majesty, please don't give the matter another thought. If you hadn't said something, I would have thought it was one of the horses."