LONDON (AP) – London’s 2012 Olympic bid committee tried everything to impress the International Olympic Committee this week, from royal and political visits to talks from top athletes.

It seemed to work. London won wide praise when the IOC wrapped up its visit to the British capital on Saturday, putting pressure on front-runner Paris with the committee set to name the 2012 venue on July 6 in Singapore. London was the second stop for the IOC’s 13-person commission, after Madrid.

Over four days, the commission was driven into rail tunnels, serenaded by an orchestra before taking an Underground train, and viewed the vast expanse of dirt in east London that would be the main stadium and Olympic village.

They’ve tried their hands at archery at Lord’s cricket ground, visited Prime Minister Tony Blair and attended a history-making Buckingham Palace reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.

“We had a very, very nice dinner with the queen and we were very delighted to learn that she is backing your bid very much,” commission chairwoman Nawal El Moutawakel said at a news conference Saturday.

“We were pleased to see the high level of government commitment from all major political parties,” she said.

El Moutawakel said problems with London’s transport system, criticized in an IOC report last May, had been addressed.

“We have been assured by all the documents that have been given to us and the guarantees, and we see that London is committed to improving its transport system,” she said.

The IOC was taken out in style for Friday’s official reception.

They cruised down the Thames, where landmarks were lit with the Olympic rings, and under an open Tower Bridge before arriving at Buckingham Palace in black cabs.

The commission was greeted by Princess Anne, an IOC member who competed in equestrian events at the 1976 Olympics. The Royal Standard was raised at the palace – a flag normally reserved for state visits – and for the first time the menu was in English, not French.

The queen, who would celebrate 60 years on the throne in 2012, also took the unusual step of waving a farewell to the commission from the palace balcony.

Also present at the palace was London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who made headlines this week when he likened a Jewish journalist’s behavior to that of a German concentration camp guard. Livingstone declined to apologize, but El Moutawakel dismissed the flap.

“We are not here to assess that,” she said. “Our role is very clear, we are a commission which is here technically and report to the IOC commission.”

AP-ES-02-19-05 1524EST