Queen's tribute to shooting victims

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On the first day of her tour to the US, the Queen addressed the general assembly in Richmond, Virginia, the state left reeling by the gun massacre at Virginia Tech last month.

She told delegates and senators in the Capitol building: "As a state and as a nation you are still coming to terms with the dreadful events at Virginia Tech on the 16th of April. My heart goes out to the students, friends and families of all those killed and to the many others who have been affected, some of whom I shall be meeting shortly.

"On behalf of the people of the United Kingdom I extend my deepest sympathies at this time of such grief and sorrow."

She was meeting privately afterwards with between 10 and 25 survivors and bereaved families. Thirty two people were killed when Seung-Hui Cho gunned down students and teachers on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg on April 16.

Military cadets from Virginia Tech paid a moving tribute in front of the Queen to one of their fellow members who was killed. Eleven students stood guard in uniform at the top of the steps of Richmond's Capitol as the monarch walked up to the white column building.

There should have been 12 cadets taking part, but there were just 11 - deliberately one less in memory of Matthew La Porte. The cadets stood shoulder to shoulder leaving one space, third from the right, empty in honour of their "lost comrade".

The Queen spoke of how the bonds between the US and the UK were far stronger than any "temporary differences of opinion".

"Friendship is a complex concept," she said. "It means being able to debate openly, disagree on occasion, surmount both good times and bad, safe in the knowledge that the bonds that draw us together - of history, understanding and warm regard - are far stronger than any temporary differences of opinion.

"The people of the United Kingdom have such a relationship with the people of this great nation. It is one of the most durable international collaborations anywhere in the world at any time in history, a friendship for which I certainly in my lifetime have had good cause to be thankful."