August 31, 2026

Long before Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt forged their wartime partnership, another memorable Anglo-American gathering helped strengthen the bonds between Britain and the United States.

In June 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth made the first visit to the United States by a reigning British monarch. After the formalities of Washington, President and Mrs. Roosevelt welcomed Their Majesties to Hyde Park, New York, where the visit took a distinctly American turn. On Sunday, June 11, the Roosevelts hosted a picnic luncheon at FDR’s Top Cottage—and famously served the King and Queen hot dogs. The informal meal became one of the best-remembered moments of the royal tour and helped present the British royal family to Americans in a warm, personal way just months before the outbreak of the Second World War.

This surviving souvenir program from the royal visit records the White House and Hyde Park events, including the June 11 picnic and its distinguished guest list. Signed on its cover by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, it offers a remarkable glimpse of the personal diplomacy that preceded the wartime “Special Relationship” Churchill and Roosevelt would soon bring to historic consequence.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Pictured: Souvenir program for the June 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the United States, including the Hyde Park picnic luncheon.