The Queen’s visit to Virginia in May 2007, part of a state visit hosted by George W. Bush, was arranged to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.

For months beforehand, officials from Buckingham Palace and the British Embassy in Washington corresponded with staff from the office of Tim Kaine, Virginia governor, who as Hillary Clinton’s running mate is now the favourite to be the next vice president. …

Amanda Howe from the governor’s office sent back a marked-up version that flagged up a reference to Douglas Wilder, then Richmond’s mayor, as a “grandson of slaves”. She wrote: “A little weird to refer to slavery as a tradition.”

Mention of both Wilder and his forebears was removed from the speech as delivered by the Queen, and the only reference to slavery came at the end of her remarks when she referred to the anniversary of abolition of the slave trade.

Her aides also removed a reference in the draft speech to the original settlement at Jamestown being “full of indolent noblemen, with a propensity to spend their hours playing bowls”. However, the American objection to this passage was not so much the potential for offence, as confusion. “What does this mean?” wrote Ms Howe.

The reference to indolent noblemen was duly dropped.