British queen met 13 US presidents

The fact that Queen Elizabeth has known so many presidents is due to her exceptionally long reign. At 95, she has been on the throne for almost seventy years.

The first president she met was Harry S. Truman in 1951. Elizabeth was then 25 and still a princess while staying with her family at the Trumans at Blair House in Washington DC. This is where the President stayed during the White House renovation.

A year later, Elizabeth succeeds her father. The first American leader she met as head of state was Dwight D. Eisenhower, Truman’s successor. In total, the Queen has met with 13 US presidents.

The only US president missing from his list is Lyndon B. Johnson, who succeeded John F. Kennedy assassinated in 1963 and was subsequently elected for a term. It is not clear why he did not go to London.

JFK was received at Buckingham Palace in 1961. The visit of President Kennedy and his wife Jackie results in the juiciest episode of the Netflix series The crown. According to biographers, the Queen envied Jackie’s glamor, but it is difficult to determine how closely that corresponds to reality.

Given the “special relationship” with the United States, particularly emphasized by the British, it was assured during each term that the monarch received the new president or visited him in Washington. Donald Trump received his invitation for a state visit in 2017, just a week after his installation through then Prime Minister Theresa May. This led to many protests and a postponement, although Trump eventually visited Windsor Castle.

This visit by Trump is etched in the memory of many Britons. When Trump and Queen Elizabeth went to inspect the Military Honor Guard, the Queen had to show him how President Trump would walk in front of the Queen. This has become global news, as it goes against protocol that the Queen will never follow another.

But also during a visit by Barack Obama, people sinned against this infamous protocol. At a state dinner in 2011, he toasted the Queen just as the UK’s national anthem, by law, was to be listened to with full attention. His wife Michelle Obama put her hand on the Queen’s shoulders during this visit, while touching the British head of state is prohibited.

A visit that has also gone down in the history books was when Ronald and Nancy Reagan were invited to stay at Windsor Castle in 1982, the first presidential couple to receive this honor. Ronald Reagan and Elizabeth II went horseback riding together, while their husbands Nancy and Prince Philip took a horse-drawn carriage ride.

A year later, the British royal couple traveled to Santa Barbara, California, and the Queen bestowed upon them the title of knight, the highest rank for non-Britons.