Jill Biden recalls Queen's touching affection for Prince Philip during last visit to Windsor Castle
In light of Her Majesty's untimely passing, First Lady Jill Biden reflected on her time spent with the Queen last year in June. She shared that the monarch invited her and President Joe Biden into her living room and personally poured them tea while she spoke movingly about her late husband, Prince Philip. Jill, 71, recently spoke with Today's Sheinelle Jones about Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away peacefully in her sleep last Thursday, September 8 at the age of 96.
The First Lady told the source that when she and her husband, President Joe Biden, 79, travelled to England to meet with the Queen at Windsor Castle last year, the monarch took care to "put them at ease." ''She poured tea and Joe and I said, 'Oh, let us help you'" she recalled, adding that the Queen told them, "No. You sit there and I’ll get the tea."
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"She put us at ease. She had such curiosity. She wanted to know all about American politics, what was happening," she told. The encounter, which took place on June 13, 2021, followed Prince Philip, the Queen's spouse, who died at age 99, the 71-year-old said. Staff members allegedly cautioned her not to bring up her family, but the Queen promptly brought up her late husband. "We went up to her living room and they said to us, 'Don’t talk about family.' The first thing she starts with is family." "Prince Philip had just died recently and I think she knows Joe, I think she just wanted to talk about her husband," she continued.
Jill exclaimed, "What I admired about her was that she was extremely independent," when asked what she liked best about the Queen. The First Lady continued by expressing her sympathies to the Queen's family during their awful loss. Jill and Joe issued a statement following her passing last week, claiming that she "was more than a monarch, she defined an era."
''We were honored that she extended her hospitality to us in June 2021 during our first overseas trip as President and First Lady, where she charmed us with her wit, moved us with her kindness, and generously shared with us her wisdom. Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock Alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States. She helped make our relationship special,'' they wrote in a joint statement. "In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her. An enduring admiration for Queen Elizabeth II united people across the Commonwealth. The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity," their statement continued.
The pair, who first met the Queen in 1982, is anticipated to attend her burial in London the following week, they are believed to be the only representatives of the United States. The President previously discussed the Queen after their visit last year, calling her "extremely kind" and comparing her to his mother. "We had a long talk. She was very generous. I don’t think she’d be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother, in terms of the look of her and just the generosity. She was very gracious," he said.