Did The Queen Really Do This When Barack Obama Visited?
When Barack Obama was President of the United States he met leaders from around the world, including Queen Elizabeth. The president, along with his wife, Michelle Obama, visited Buckingham Palace three times during his eight years in office, and it's safe to say that everyone got on perfectly. During one of their visits, the Obamas presented the queen with a collection of mementos from her father's last visit to the United States — a gift that reportedly made Elizabeth tear up. On the queen's 90th birthday, Obama called her "truly one of my favorite people. She is an astonishing person and a real jewel to the world and not just to the United Kingdom" (per BBC).
The feeling was mutual, according to royal author Tom Quinn. He explained that Queen Elizabeth found Obama so charming that she would like him to still visit her. 'The Queen has a soft spot for Americans after meeting Barack Obama who she completely fell in love with — so much so that she has frequently asked her courtiers if they could arrange for him to come to Britain now he is no longer president," said Quinn, author of "Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle" (per British Heritage).
Despite the fact that the queen thoroughly enjoyed his company, there was one time Obama overstayed his welcome just a bit.
Barack Obama kept the queen up past her bedtime
While Queen Elizabeth and Barack Obama enjoyed one another's company, there was one time that the former president reportedly overstayed his welcome. At a state banquet in Great Britain, the queen had to ask then-Chancellor George Osborne to ask Obama to leave because it was late and she wanted to go to sleep. "And I looked over at — Barack Obama was having a great time, kind of knocking back vodka martinis with his mates, and I was like, 'Oh, my god, I'm going to be the person that has to go and tell him to go home,'" Osborne recalled during a talk hosted by the Old Pauline Club (per Insider).
Queen Elizabeth has continued her tradition of meeting with U.S. Presidents. She welcomed Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, to Windsor Castle in June 2021. It shouldn't be surprising that the president and first lady gushed over her majesty. "I don't think she'd be insulted but she reminded me of my mother, the look of her and just the generosity," Biden said of the queen (per U.S. News & World Report). "She's extremely gracious, that's not surprising, but we had a great talk."