From a brooch to the queen's iPod: A history of gifts between U.S. and U.K.

U.S. From a brooch to the queen's iPod: A history of gifts between the U.S. and U.K. By Mark Osborne Updated on: April 29, 2026 / 1:06 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The U.S. might have been born out of rebellion against a British monarch, but the two countries now also have a long history of diplomatic relations. And what's a friendship without gift-giving?Presidents and monarches have been exchanging gifts on diplomatic trips for nearly two centuries. Some gifts have been infamous — such as George W. Bush gifting Queen Elizabeth II a golf cart-size electric vehicle in 2008 — while others have hit just the right note — such as King Charles' gift on Tuesday to President Trump of a bell from the British submarine HMS Trump.The most famous — and lasting — gift from the U.K. to a U.S. president was the Resolute Desk. The desk, which has been a centerpiece of the White House since 1880, was gifted from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes. The desk was made from the wood of the HMS Resolute, a British ship that became stuck in ice and abandoned before being discovered by an American whaling ship in 1855. It was refurbished and given back to England, and the Resolute Desk was crafted after the ship was decommissioned in 1879. President Bush's Resolute desk in the Oval Office when empty, at the White House.  Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images The Resolute Desk has been used by every president since Hayes except Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. (It had been loaned to an exhibition until Jimmy Carter requested it for his Oval Office in 1977.) President Barack Obama signs three bills into law on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office at the White House, Nov. 27, 2013, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The ObamasWhen the Obamas made a visit to see Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in May 2011, President Obama received a collection of presidential letters to and from Queen Victori...