Biden Meets Queen Elizabeth For First Time As President At G7 Summit

On Friday, President Joe Biden met with Queen Elizabeth for the first time as leader of the U.S. He had previously met her before as a U.S. senator in 1982. This time Biden was participating in the G7 Summit, a meeting between leaders of the seven largest economies. Other involved powers include Japan, Italy, France, Canada, Germany and the European Union. Representatives from Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa were also invited.

Biden is the 13th U.S. president to meet the Queen. During her time as monarch, she has met with every commander-in-chief except Lyndon Johnson. She was introduced to her first president in 1957 with Dwight Eisenhower. That same year, the queen met former president Harry Truman, whose term lasted from 1945 to 1953. She had also met Truman in 1951 before she was crowned Queen.

Other family members were present at the G7 Summit, as well. The Queen was joined by Prince Charles; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

The meeting comes just two months after the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, died at 99-years-old.

On Friday, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the U.K. and the summit’s host, discussed needing to “build back better” after the pandemic. He also talked about taking the opportunity to “level up across our societies.” Johnson noted that they would discuss economic inequality and climate change at the summit.

He said, “I actually think that we have a huge opportunity to do that because, as G7, we are united in our vision for a cleaner, greener world, a solution to the problems of climate change.”

Near the end of the evening, the Queen made everyone laugh with a joke. The world leaders were lined up for a photo and she asked, “Are you supposed to be looking as if you’re enjoying yourself?”

Johnson replied to her question, “Yes. We have been enjoying ourselves in spite of appearances.”