Heat, hair and hankies: the best red-carpet moments from the White House’s Africa summit dinner

Peter Selfridge deserves a standing ovation — or, at the least, a glass of water

On a near 90-degree night Tuesday, Selfridge and his trusty hankie worked overtime as the chief of protocol shook dozens of very important hands, trekking up and down the red carpet as the White House welcomed 51 African leaders and their plus-ones.

Beginning not long after 6 p.m. with the arrival of Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, and ending more than an hour later with King Mswati III of Swaziland (and one of his wives, who looked unhappy to be there), Selfridge and an honor guard gamely greeted black car after black car. The staged repetition (and the sun) had to be tedious, lacking the rarefied pomp and circumstance of an official state dinner.

There were some bright spots, particularly when it came to the fashion of Africa’s first ladies. Mauritania’s chic Lady Tekber Mint Melainine Ould Ahmed made wearing aviators at night look cool. And of course, Cameroon’s eccentric first lady Chantal Biya arrived with her devil-may-care hair.

The only real bump in the red carpet came when one member of the honor guard appeared to get sick on the job. Standing stock-still for more than an hour in uniform, while holding a heavy rifle as the heat refuses to let up, can’t be easy. Neither is watching the whole thing on TV. So to save you from watching all the proceedings, we’ve highlighted the greatest moments from the red-carpet arrivals.

1.  Lady Tekber Mint Melainine Ould Ahmed of Mauritania, her stunner shades, her designer bag, her all around diva-ness — oh, and her husband, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

source:the washingtonpost