‘She reminded me of my mother’: Joe Biden meets the Queen at Windsor Castle
‘I don’t think she’d be insulted but she reminded me ... the look of her and just the generosity’
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Your support makes all the difference.US president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid a visit to Windsor Castle to have tea with the Queen on Sunday afternoon.
The couple landed in the grounds of the monarch's Berkshire residence on Marine One just before 5pm, a few minutes ahead of schedule.
They were met by the Queen, who was wearing a bright pink floral outfit, in the Quadrangle of the castle, before entering the castle via the Sovereign’s Entrance at 5.18pm.
A Guard of Honour formed of the Queen’s Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards gave a Royal Salute, and the US national anthem was played.
Mr Biden then accompanied the Officer Commanding the Guard of Honour, Maj James Taylor, and Maj Gen Christopher Ghika to inspect the Honour Guard, before returning to the dais to watch the military march-past with the Queen.
The role of escorting a visiting head of state to inspect the troops is a job that was occupied by the Duke of Edinburgh, before he retired in 2017. Prince Philip died in April, aged 99.
As the US President walked alongside the Queen, the monarch said: “You completed your talks.” To which he replied: “Yes we did.”
The couple left Windsor Castle at 6.03pm, according to the palace.
Mr Biden later told reporters the Queen “reminded me of my mother”. He said: “I don’t think she’d be insulted but she reminded me of my mother, the look of her and just the generosity.”
He added that he was asked about Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting.
“She wanted to know what the two leaders that I - the one I’m about to meet with, Mr Putin, and she wanted to know about Xi Jinping,” hesaid.
The Bidens had already previously met with the Queen when she hosted a reception for the G7 leaders on Friday night in Cornwall.
Upon their arrival in Britain, Dr Biden said: “Joe and I are both looking forward to meeting the Queen. That’s an exciting part of the visit for us.”
The meeting marks the end of the president’s British leg of his first international trip since entering the White House in January.
It also came the day after the Queen marked her official birthday and received her official birthday gift from the nation’s armed forces – a scaled-back Trooping the Colour parade – which was held at the castle.
After leaving Windsor, Mr Biden will head to the Nato summit in Brussels on Monday, a US-EU summit on Tuesday and a meeting with the Russian president Vladimir Putin in Geneva the following day.
Additional reporting by PA
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