Barack and Michelle Obama definitely have a good relationship with the British royal family. And now, the former first lady is sharing her “sleepover” experience at the Buckingham Palace during their state visit in 2011.
Speaking at Klick Health’s MUSE event in New York on Tuesday, Michelle revealed some interesting details about her time spent with Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family, E! News reported.
The 54-year-old former first lady, who was given a chance to sleepover in the monarch’s home , admitted it wasn’t any different from staying somewhere else. Apparently, Michelle felt comfortable during her stay, especially since she had already interacted with the royal family beforehand.
She even claimed that the royals wanted to be treated normally, which she finds surprising.
“I think by the time we had the sleepover we had enough interacting with them. The surprising thing is folks wanted to be treated normally.”
Michelle also noted that the royal family seems “happy when all the people are gone,” adding that they want to be “hugged,” “touched,” and even enjoy “gossip.”
While staying over in the Buckingham Palace, the Obamas were also served meals fit for royalty. But despite its meticulous cooking, the former first lady claimed that the White House serves better food.
“I don’t want to insult anybody, American food is just better.”
However, she admitted that the Queen has “better china.” At one point, she allegedly mistook a plate for a gold charger during the state banquet.
Michelle added that there’s a room in the Buckingham Palace where they “keep all the gold.”
She even revealed that the monarch let her family see the “ gold room ” as a surprise for Sasha’s birthday, according to Hello! magazine.
“Everything is gold. We had seen the gold room – there’s a room where they keep all the gold,” Michelle said. “It was Sasha’s birthday and the Queen opened the house and she let us see that room.”
Barack and Michelle Obama had a hugely successful state visit in the U.K. in 2011 and instantly won the hearts of the royal family.
In fact, they became so close that the couple returned to Windsor Castle in April 2016. At that time, the Queen and Prince Philip discarded formalities and personally welcomed the Obamas as they arrived.
The Duke of Edinburgh even drove the couple along with the Queen to the main house for lunch.
Aside from the Queen, Barack and Michelle Obama also have a good relationship with the other members of the royal family. They already bonded with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace where they met Prince George.
Prince Harry also struck up a friendship with Michelle when he teamed up with her on a number of initiatives, including various campaigns for girls’ education and better support for military families.
He also became friends with the former president when they teamed up for the Invictus Games.
Michelle Obama is currently working on her memoir Becoming set to be released in November 2018.
