Bill Clinton: “Well, the Imperial Family is an important part of your culture. We do not have one in the United States, as you know.…”

“Well, the Imperial Family is an important part of your culture. We do not have one in the United States, as you know. That's because when we broke off from England, they had a king, and so we thought we had to behave differently. So we elected our Presidents, and then over 100 years later we decided they could only stay for 8 years. And then when times got tough, most of them found it was difficult even to stay 8 years. [Laughter] But let me say, I'm very interested in the Imperial Family. We followed the marriage with great interest, my wife and I, and discussed the marriage and how impressed we were with the Princess and with the devotion of the Prince who pursued her. I have invited the Emperor and the Empress to visit the United States next year, and we are hopeful that they will come sometime in the late spring or the early summer and that they will have a very good trip. We are eager to receive them.”