The Queen is reportedly set to host President Joe Biden this summer at Buckingham Palace ahead of the G7 Summit, according to an exclusive report in The Sunday Times.
Roya Nikkhah at The Sunday Times reports that the visit will be the first in The Queen’s soft return to public duties and is already being drafted by British and American officials as a way to cement the strong relationship between the two countries.
The meeting, which will include other world leaders attending the G7 Summit, is being billed as a “soft power” reception at the palace that will also include The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
According to a royal source who spoke to Nikkhah, “There is a desire from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to have a very strong royal presence before G7 events, and all senior members of the royal family will be part of what happens.”
The Queen has already sent President Biden a message of support following his inauguration on 20 January, the contents of which were not made public.
Prince Charles is reported to have sent a private message to President Biden as well, and “is understood to be delighted that one of Biden’s first acts as president was signing a series of executive orders addressing climate change and the environment, overturning many of Trump’s policies,” according to the report.
The G7 Summit, if it happens, will come during a monumental week for the British Royal Family, as it falls in the midst of The Queen’s official 95th birthday (Trooping the Colour is slated for 12 June), and days after The Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday.
It will be the first occasion that the Royal Family publicly reunites since the coronavirus pandemic began last March.
President Biden will also reportedly enjoy a perk that his immediate predecessor did not: a visit to the House of Commons with a personal invitation from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House, who has already sent off the letter. President Obama was given the rare honour of speaking at Westminster Hall in 2011, though his successor was personally vetoed from the same privilege by the previous Speaker of the House.
The Queen has met with every US President during her reign, except for President Lyndon B. Johnson; if she indeed meets President Biden this summer, he will be the 12th President who has met The Queen, and her 13th President overall.
