This may be the biggest week in the history of the Virginia Capitol since . . . well, since it wasn’t burned to the ground in the final days of the Civil War. At the beginning of the week, we celebrated the reopening of the Capitol after a two-year renovation and restoration. Monday night was a black-tie reception, and Tuesday we held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the South Portico. The weather was perfect, and the remarks included a few choice words from a Thomas Jefferson re-enactor (how’s that for a niche profession?). You can see an interactive tour of the old-and-improved Capitol here.

And today Queen Elizabeth II will address a joint session of the General Assembly as part of her United States tour commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown landing (I guess there are no hard feelings about the whole independence thing). In preparation for her visit, the Clerk of the House distributed a memo setting out “Royal Protocol Information.” Among the Do’s: “When the Queen enters a room, everyone stands.” Among the Don’t’s: “It is not proper to ask The Queen for an autograph or ask to have one’s picture taken with The Queen or any member of the Royal family.” (There goes that campaign brochure shot . . .)

A Senator of my acquaintance noted that the memo on appropriate behavior went only to the members of the House, not the Senate. It was suggested that that was because the Senate already regards itself as royalty.