The big news generated considerable excitement: "Queen Elizabeth to Host Biden at Buckingham Palace." Did you know that throughout her 6-decade reign, Queen Elizabeth has met every President of the US- except President Lyndon Johnson? Indeed, the British monarch has witnessed more than just a few regime changes in US politics. The Queen has personally spent some time with the last 13 out of 14 US presidents. As noted, she only missed President Lyndon B Johnson. So, the Queen was scheduled to add to the long list the names of the current US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
According to the New York Times, the dignitaries were scheduled to visit the British monarch at her Windsor Castle royal residence. The meeting, confirmed by Buckingham Palace, was scheduled to take place on Sunday, 13th June 2021. This trip would mark President Biden's first presidential trip abroad after his inauguration on 20th January. During his time in England, the President's trip was set to include the G7 summit. He was also scheduled to meet and hold talks with EU officials in Brussels. He would conclude the itinerary with a meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Earlier in 2021, the UK Sunday Times newspaper reported what was regarded as "rumours" that the Queen was scheduled to host President Biden together with other world leaders just before the G-7 summit commenced. The rumoured meeting was called a" soft power" reception. The newspaper report said that " the royal and government officials had drawn up the plans with a view to cement the special relationship between the UK and American governments." When first contacted to confirm these reports, Bucking Palace initially declined to comment on the Sunday Times story. However, the general public was already aware that the US President and the Queen were keeping in touch. For example, Queen Elizabeth had sent President Biden a private congratulatory message ahead of his January inauguration. Likewise, President Biden had sent the Queen a private condolence message immediately after her husband, Prince Philip died. Analysts say that President Biden's trip would mark "a return to normalcy" for Buckingham Palace and the Queen after an entire year of quarantine and the death of Prince Philip. And all these came to pass.
Notably, just ahead of the much-publicized US elections in November 2020, famous British royal couple Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Merkle famously released a powerful video. The video expressed their expectation that the US elections would be peaceful and that the outcome would be positive.
Flashback 39 years ago. Yes, years ago, when the young senator, Joe Biden, was preparing to meet Britain's Queen Elizabeth II for the first time in 1982, his Irish-American-born mother ( with the surname Finnegan) had a little piece of advice. "Don't ever bow down to her," Finnegan told her son in 1982. This was according to Biden's memoir published several years ago.
And on the scheduled day, a Sunday, Joe Biden met the Queen again- this time as President. Yes, he didn't bow. After the meeting, the President described the Queen as a highly gracious stately woman who reminded him a lot of his mother- the Irish American who offered him sound advice almost 40 years ago. And he said they'd "had a great talk."
President Biden had arrived to the interior quad of the Windsor Castle driven in a dark Range Rover vehicle alongside his wife. Soon after, the President emerged wearing his trademark pair of aviator sunglasses. He then stood to chat briefly with the 95-year-old British monarch. The President only removed his sunglasses to survey the bearskin-hatted, red-suited, Grenadier Guardsmen. The President and the Queen then walked briskly inside the Windsor Castle, ready to start their private talks. Reporters could only hear some light conversation. As noted, President Biden is the 12th sitting US President to meet the Queen. President Biden joined a legacy of US leaders paying homage to a global icon whom many regard as "a living piece of history." This was the first-ever one-on-one personal meeting involving the Queen and a world leader since the coronavirus outbreak in 2020. It was also among the Queen's first public engagements following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April.
Prince Philip died aged 99. The big meeting followed the end of the G7 summit that President Biden attended. The summit was held on the South Western Coast of England. President Biden spent much time during his first international trip trying to revive American alliances with some of the world's leading democracies.
After meeting the Queen, President Biden was scheduled to travel to Brussels, where he was to spend two days meeting other US allies at the NATO headquarters. He would also visit the EU headquarters before leaving for Geneva to conclude with a meeting together with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.