What Queen Elizabeth's relationship was like with every US president, from Truman to Trump

Grace Panetta

Apr 10, 2019, 01:00 IST

What Queen Elizabeth's relationship was like with every US president, from Truman to Trump

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Queen Elizabeth II, pictured on a visit to Hull last month.

Queen Elizabeth II, currently the world's longest-reigning monarch, turns 93 on April 21st.
Since 1951, the year before she ascended to the throne, the Queen has met with 12 US presidents and helped facilitate the US and UK's diplomatic relations.
Here's what the queen's relationships and meetings with US presidents have been like from Harry Truman to Donald Trump.
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Queen Elizabeth II, currently the world's longest-reigning monarch, turns 93 on April 21st.

Starting even before she ascended to the throne in 1952, the queen has played a major role in facilitating the US and UK's "special" diplomatic relationship and has met with 12 American presidents at places including Buckingham Palace, the White House, and even a Baltimore Orioles game.

She traveled to Washington, DC for the first time to meet President Harry Truman in 1951 when she was a still a princess, and most recently hosted President Donald Trump at Windsor Castle last year when he visited England.

Here's what the queen's relationships and meetings with US presidents have been like from Harry Truman to Donald Trump.

When Queen Elizabeth was still a princess in 1951, she traveled to Washington, DC to the first time to meet President Harry Truman, and the two complimented each other's nations. "Free men everywhere look towards the United States with affection and with hope," she told Truman.

The queen developed a close friendship with President Dwight Eisenhower, who hosted Her Majesty for her first state visit to the US as queen. They corresponded by letter for years — with the queen even sharing her recipe for grilled scones with Eisenhower.

The queen reportedly felt upstaged and outshined by Jacqueline Kennedy when she and President Kennedy toured France and England in the summer of 1961 The queen hosted them at Buckingham Palace.

Nevertheless, Queen Elizabeth and President Kennedy warmly corresponded until his death in 1963, after which the queen created a physical memorial and a scholarship fund in Kennedy's honor.

President Richard Nixon met the queen multiple times during his time as vice president and president — and reportedly tried to fix his daughter Tricia up with Prince Charles, the queen's eldest son.

President Gerald Ford hosted Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip for a state dinner. "If I hadn't kept mixing up Your Highness and Your Majesty (he's His Highness, she's Her Majesty) I'd give myself four stars for the way that visit went off," First Lady Betty Ford wrote of the dinner in her memoirs.

President Jimmy Carter committed in infamous faux-pas in kissing the Queen Mother on the lips during his visit to Buckingham Palace to attend a NATO event.

Queen Elizabeth developed a close relationship with President Ronald Reagan, with whom she shared a love of horseback riding.

In 1989, the queen granted Reagan honorary knighthood — the highest distinction the United Kingdom awards foreigners — in recognition of Reagan's assistance to the UK in the Falkland Wars.

George H.W. Bush, a life-long baseball fan, took Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip to a Baltimore Orioles vs. Oakland Athletics game in 1991 — the first time the queen had been to a baseball game.

After President Bush died in December 2018, the queen put out a statement that honored him as "a great friend and ally of the United Kingdom" and a "patriot." She also sent Prince Charles to represent the Royal Family at his funeral.

“Her Majesty impressed me as someone who but for the circumstance of her birth, might have become a successful politician or diplomat. As it was, she had to be both, without quite seeming to be either," President Bill Clinton wrote of the queen in his memoir.

In 2007, Queen Elizabeth poked some light-hearted fun at George W. Bush over his mistakenly saying she had to come to celebrate America's bicentennial in 1776 instead of 1976.

In 2009, President Barack Obama gifted the queen an iPod with historical video footage of her previous visits to the US going back to the 1950s, as well as his 2009 inaugural address and 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention.

In her memoir "Becoming," Michelle Obama described accidentally violating royal protocol by putting her arm around the queen as a show of affection and support, but says Her Majesty didn't seem offended and reciprocated the gesture back.

President Donald Trump was accused of committing several royal faux-pas during his summer 2018 visit to England — including being late to meet the queen at Windsor Castle, walking in front of her, shaking her hand instead of bowing, and turning his back to her.

"If you think of it, for so many years she has represented her country, she has really never made a mistake. You don’t see, like, anything embarrassing. She is just an incredible woman," Trump said of the queen before their meeting.

In April, UK media outlets reported that the queen plans to invite Trump to Buckingham Palace for a formal state visit and to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in June 2019.

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