America is gearing up for a state visit by the Queen as she heads to the US for the first time in 16 years.
The 81-year-old monarch will be joined by the Duke of Edinburgh for the six-day East Coast royal tour, which begins in Virginia on Thursday.
The state is holding a lottery to give more than 100 "commoners" front row places for a royal walkabout, the Washington Post reported.
Officials will ask winners to dress appropriately "with no 'I'm With Stupid' T-shirts etc".
"Rumours of a royal visit, however, have been making state giddy for months," the Post proclaimed.
Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine remarked the visit would be a "very powerful day".
Workers have been painting fences, installing lampposts and laying bricks and grass ready for the royal arrival.
They are putting the finishing touches to Virginia's Capitol which will open after a two-year renovation when the Queen addresses the assembly in Richmond.
The Queen will be treated to American-style music from jazz to gospel, according to organisers, and will mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the US.
She was last in Virginia in 1957, for the 350th anniversary of the settlement.
