When the Late Queen Elizabeth II Insisted on Serving President Joe Biden Tea During His Visit
The late Queen Elizabeth II was renowned for her thoughtful leadership and gentle demeanor; the beloved queen also carried out her informal duties with generosity. Moreover, according to the newly released biographical book The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy by Robert Hardman, the late Queen held a warm reception for President Joe Biden and his wife Jill during their visit to Windsor Castle in June 2021. The First Lady revealed to Hardman that during the late Queen's and President Biden's last cup of tea together, the monarch 'insisted' on being the one to hold the teapot.
“Joe and I just decided to attend,” she exclusively recalled in an excerpt attained by People. “We went up to her apartment. And I loved her sense of independence. She had a big teapot. And Joe said to her: “Here, let me help you.”’ The Queen had been quite insistent, however. "No, no, no. You sit,’ she told the President. ‘I will serve you'."
"Here she was with this big teapot pouring tea, and we had the best time because she has such a sense of curiosity," Dr. Biden continued. "She asked all about American politics and what was going on and [the president’s] perceptions of different people and different events.’ It was, the former FLOTUS recollected fondly, every American’s ‘picture’ of a quintessentially British tea party, especially when ‘her little dogs came in.' Recalling the time of the late Queen's funeral, the First Lady said, "Joe and I just decided to attend. We all grew up with the Queen. She was such a big part of our lives. She was just always there and felt like she always would be – a really beautiful, spectacular, amazing woman."
As per Reuters, during the queen's reign, Biden served as one of 14 presidents of the United States with whom Elizabeth had personal encounters. Following his visit to her lying-in-state at Westminster and signing a book of condolences, Biden said, "To all the people of England, all the people in the United Kingdom, our hearts go out to you. You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years, we all were. The world's better for her." He stated that he had reassured King Charles, the queen's successor, that she would be "with him every step of the way, every minute, every moment and that's a reassuring notion".
Biden referred to her as “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States” in his tribute, which was posted on the White House website. The statement also read, "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch. She defined an era. 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."
