Ronald Reagan, the couple's host in 1985 and who at one point fluffed his lines and referred to her as Princess David, died last year. She got the message and we went to town." Twenty years on a lot as changed Diana, of course, was killed in 1997. It was Nancy Reagan who sidled up to Travolta and passed on a request to dance from the princess. "I felt like a frog who had been turned into a prince," Travolta later revealed "We were alone with the world watching She started to dance kind of strongly. So I gently pressed her hand down and put my other hand on her waist It was to say 'let me lead because I know what I'm doing'. This time around it could be Charles who makes the news.That previous dinner took place on November 9, 1985. It was, famously, Diana, dressed in a formal ink-blue, silk and velvet gown designed by Victor Edelstein, who captured everyone's attention when she danced with Travolta, having presumably calculated that her husband was not up to the rigours of Night Fever.

The Prince will also have a private lunch today with President George Bush. It has been almost exactly 20 years since Prince Charles had his last official dinner at the White House, and on that occasion it was his young wife who stole the headlines. Such is the protocol surrounding the US visit of Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and their centrepiece event later tonight when they are the guests of honour at a state reception at the White House. There was no way, she said sweetly, that she could release the guest list in advance And no, neither could she reveal the menu OK. How about John Travolta? Is old snake hips going to once again wow everyone on the dance floor? No news on that, either. but Mr Gomery concluded that Mr Martin was not responsible for keeping tabs on how funds were spent..

The woman from the office of First Lady Laura Bush was pleasant but unyielding. In March, Jean Brault from the advertising firm Groupaction Marketing said he was coerced to make back-door donations in exchange for government contracts. He said he paid C$1.2m to Liberal supporters, who essentially did no work.When the judge accepted Mr Brault's evidence as "credible", the Conservative Party and Bloc Quebecois joined forces to try to topple the government.Mr Gomery called the scandal a "story of greed, venality and misconduct".Mr Gomery said that Mr Chretien had ignored warnings and "must share the blame for the mismanagement that ensued".Mr Chretien has in turn called into question Mr Gomery's credibility.Mr Martin became involved in the scandal when, as finance minister, he pumped an extra $50m a year into the national unity reserve. And when the auditor general Sheila Fraser joined the chorus of outrage, Mr Martin called in Mr Gomery to hold an inquiry.The confessional floodgates burst. It was the largest cash disappearing act the country had ever seen and it occurred on Jean Chretien's watch.The Liberal Party has had a virtually hegemonic rule over the country since 1993, but news that millions of dollars had been diverted united opposition parties normally at war and cost the Liberal Party its majority rule. The campaign included hoisting the national red-and-white maple leaf flag throughout Quebec, among other things.There was only one problem: the companies that received the money did little or no work.