Michelle Obama is talk of the town!

I thought it would be a game of two halves. On the one side the Obama fans watching their team, cheering them on wildly with much praise and enthusiasm. On the other side the G20 protesters getting their necks strangled by off-duty coppers who suddenly find they are on-duty.

The G20 is all smiles and cheery banter, led on by the smiling Gordon Brown and the smirking Peter Mandelson. No wonder Angela Merkel looks so cheesed off all the time. It must get a bit wearing all this bonhomie and backslapping.

Michelle Obama doesn't have Frau Merkel's worries. She's far more in demand. Rebecca Smith, who had come down from Leicester to see the First Lady, was one of the hundreds of people waiting to catch a glimpse of the Obamas. "She seems to be a good role model. A strong, intelligent woman. I think she'll go down very well here. People have warmed to the Obamas. I don't think you'd see this crowd for many other dignitaries," she said. It is a very good thing that a woman like Michelle Obama can lift people out of their present concerns and give them the feeling that somebody is on their wavelength.

Trudi Cogdell, a patient at Maggie's Cancer Centre in West London, described her meeting with the First Lady as "very friendly". "She's a lovely lady, she's very open... she'd talk to anyone". That's what I think is the greatest asset in leadership. Far too many in high office have a disdain for meeting people. Michelle Obama is exactly the opposite.

Outside Buckingham Palace, Kevin Egglestone, an American who is studying in London, said Mrs Obama had a unique appeal. "I think it's hard for people to dislike her once they see her. She's always smiling, has a little bit of glamour and a knnowing wink. Seeing a First Lady that represents a part of America that is engaging and not aloof who you feel you can approach, will also give people the feeling that they can engage with America." Amen to that.

And she was such a hit with the Queen, that her Majesty said, "Now we've met, will you please keep in touch?"

Americans should be justly proud of their First Lady and her inate understanding of how to interact with people.