In November 1965 H.R.H. The Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon visited the United States to tour the country and promote the release of Lord Snowdon’s book. Disguised as a private visit, it was the occasion to mend the relationship between the United States and Britain strained by the economic demands of Britain and the disapproval of the US's involvement in the Vietnam War.

They first landed in San Francisco where they visited the Bay Area, including to the San Francisco City Hall, a fashion show at the Hilton Hotel, the University of California Berkeley campus, a mass at Grace Cathedral and the Monterey peninsula; they also played tourist at Coit Tower and took a cable car, represented in the cable-car Honary Citzenship gift from San Fransisco.

Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon then flew to Arizona, where they spent four days, visiting a friend whose father, Lewis W. Douglas, was the former Ambassador to the Court of St. James, as well as enjoying time at a Sonoita ranch. After their stay in Southern Arizona, the royal couple traveled to Washington D.C., the pinnacle of their trip, where they attended a dinner at the White House. The dinner, not originally on the couple’s itinerary, had been arranged during their tour and was deemed a great success.