The queen of Brunei gave first lady Michelle Obama $71,468 worth of jewelry in 2013 — just one of numerous high-priced gifts the White House family scored from foreign leaders in recent months.
Other top-of-the-line presents to the first family included an Azerbaijani rug with geometric red, white and blue patterns worth $6,500 for President Obama, from that nation’s ambassador; a silver platter with engravings of all the world’s major cities as well as their global positioning coordinates and distances from Qatar, valued at $6,500; a full felt-mounted zebra skin, a painting and sculpture worth $4,000 from Tanzania’s president; and a $4,000 brown upholstered chair from the prime minister of Singapore, the State Department reported.
But Mrs. Obama’s gift was by far worth the most, CBS News reported.
The queen gifted to her directly a flower-shaped pair of white gold earrings, matching ring and necklace, all studded with yellow sapphires and diamonds. Mr. Obama’s most expensive present, meanwhile, was valued at only about a sixth of his wife’s jewelry — about $10,400, CBS News reported. It was a glass amber-colored sculpture of a falcon on a branch, from Qatar’s ambassador to the United States.
The presents, by federal ethics rules, have to be turned over to the federal government for storage, unless the recipient wants to buy the item. Diplomatic gifts are usually considered symbols of friendship, alliance and peace and rarely noted simply for their monetary values.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.