Queen Elizabeth II was presented with flowers in Jamestown, Virginia. Her US visit marks the 400th anniversary of the country's first permanent English settlement.

The Queen visited the Susan Constant, a replica of the largest ship to carry English settlers across the Atlantic in 1606.

US Vice-President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne accompanied the Queen and Prince Philip on their trip to Jamestown.

Archaeologist Bill Kelso gave the Queen a tour of the Jamestown site where thousands of artefacts have been found.

The Queen and Prince Philip greeted crowds from a carriage in historic Colonial Williamsburg on the first day of their six-day East Coast trip.

Members of the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums marched prior to the royal carriage procession.

Chiefs and members of eight Virginia native American Indian tribes gathered on the South Portico of the Capitol. A traditional dance was performed for the monarch.

Five-year-old Cailey Eisman and her friend Madison Choate, six, were among those watching the royal carriage pass by in Colonial Williamsburg.

The Queen said in a speech that her "heart goes out" to those affected by the Virginia Tech shootings last month, in which a gunman killed 32 people.

The crowd endured rainy weather to see the Queen and Prince Philip in Richmond. The public had been urged to bring ponchos and many came prepared.

The Queen smiled broadly as she met a group of local school children in Virginia's State Capitol building.

The Queen, wearing a lilac suit with coral trimming, was presented with flowers by well-wishers.