First Absolute Monarchs To Cross White House Threshold -- Their Majesties, King Prajadhipok and Queen Rambai Barni of Siam, pictured at the White House with Colonel Campbell Hodges, aide to President Hoover, (left) and Mr. Richard Southgate (Right), acting Chief of the Protocol Division of the Department of State. The photo was made when the eastern rulers crossed the threshold of the White House, the only absolute monarchs to have entered the residence of the President of the United States. April 29, 1931. (Photo by International Newsreel Photo).