Obama girls hit London

Malia and Sasha Obama continued their whistlestop tour of Europe yesterday when they flew into Stansted from Paris for their visit to Britain. Having celebrated Sasha's eight birthday with lunch at the Elysee Palace, hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, they arrived in London looking for fish and chips.

A chippie was apparently considered inappropriate and Michelle Obama took them instead to the upstairs dining room at the Audley Arms, a Mayfair institution popular with diplomats at the nearby American Embassy in Grosvenor Square. It is not known whether the Secret Service sent in a food taster first as they did in Paris when their parents dined at the Fontaine de Mars bistro at the weekend. ("It wasn't very pleasant for the cooks at first, but the person was very nice and was relaxed, so it all went well," said Gabriel de Carvalho, one of the waiters.)

In Paris, the two girls saw the Pompidou centre with their father before he flew back to Washington and visited the Louvre with their mother and shopped on the Left Bank. In London, they visited the Houses of Parliament – though not the now historic Fees Office – and had a rare chance to see inside Big Ben.

But today is the day they will have been waiting for: there’s a trip planned to Pinewood for a private tour of the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The girls, both avid Potter fans, are expected to meet the film's stars, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

Yesterday Michelle Obama also stopped in at Number 10 to see Sarah Brown. As the First Lady's car left Whitehall, her aide was photographed holding a tourist guide, bearing the cover photo of the outgoing Speaker, Michael Martin (above). As Prime Minister Gordon Brown fought to preparing to meet his backbenchers and save his job, it seemed an appropriate souvenir.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this item was posted, the Obama girls visited the Harry Potter film set at the Leavesden Studios in Watford on Wednesday before leaving for Washington. Harry Potter author JK Rowling joined the party. Malia and Sasha are also believed to have met the film's stars, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.