Name: Fgotus.
Age: 77.
Appearance: Discreet.
Status: Power behind the throne.
OK, but what does Fgotus stand for? First grandmother of the United States, a variant of Potus (president of the United States) and Flotus (first lady of the United States).
Any other presidential acronyms we should know about? Bo, the Obamas’ dog, is Fpotus.
First Pet? Indeed.
Does the Fgotus have a name? She does: Marian Robinson. She lives with the Obamas in the White House and is in the UK on a trip with daughter Michelle and the Fdotus.
Fdotus? The first daughters of the United States, Malia and Sasha. Do try to keep up.
Where’s the Potus? I don’t know, probably playing golf somewhere.
And the first pet? In the first kennel.
Why is Michelle here? Promoting girls’ education, meeting Prince Harry, the usual Flotus stuff.
Is Prince Harry interested in girls’ education? He thinks of little else.
Well, here’s to you, Mrs Robinson. Thanks for getting that in. It’s very much her daughter’s view. She calls Fgotus her “rock”.
What does the Potus call her? Not sure, but he did once joke about her fondness for going to Las Vegas.
How does Mrs R see her role? “My job is the easiest one of all,” she said in 2012. “I just get to be grandma.”
Making jam, baking cakes, knitting sweaters? Don’t be grandma-ist. She dispenses advice to the Obamas and keeps a matronly eye on the Fdotus, who have had to grow up in the full glare of the media spotlight.
What else do we know about her? Marian and her boilerman husband Fraser lived in a far from affluent part of Chicago, but got both their children to Princeton. She was a housewife when her children were young, but worked in a bank later and took up competitive running in her 50s. Fraser died in 1991.
Does she like living in the White House? She didn’t at first. “The White House reminds me of a museum,” she complained, “and how do you sleep in a museum?”
Also known as: The grandmother-in-chief.
Most likely to say: “Barack!!!!!”
Least likely to say: “We are a grandmother.”
