Dr. Jill Biden, former First Lady of the United States, has written her memoir, or a memoir of her time as the wife of a senator, vice president and president. The book is called View From the East Wing. An East Wing which no longer exists – Donald Trump ripped down the East Wing to make room for his gaudy ballroom and an UFC ring. I’ll admit, I’m not eager to read some of this book, even though I love Dr. Biden and I think she’s amazing. The early excerpts are about the most difficult moments – what happened during her husband’s disastrous debate in 2024, what she and Joe said to each other afterwards, etc. But there’s some lighter gossip too, like these sections where she writes about her visits to the UK. During President Biden’s term, Dr. Biden visited the UK a few times, including attending King Charles’ coronation. In 2021, Dr. Biden was also paired with the then-Duchess of Cambridge for an event. Kate did not do well at all, but Dr. Jill is gracious about it.
Her trip to the UK in 2021:
I’d been to the UK several times before as a Senate spouse and as second lady. On my first foreign trip as first lady, in June 2021, I attended a cocktail reception in Cornwall with the royal family before having dinner with the G7 participants. The reception was held at the Eden Project’s magnificent rainforest and Mediterranean biodomes in Cornwall, where Queen Elizabeth told Joe that her husband had not wanted to live to be one hundred, declaring it “too old.”Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles told me she was happy to see someone her age there, because so many of the spouses were younger. I told her we were probably the only ones who were Beatles fans when they were still together.
At the dinner, I noticed how creative the menu was — melon soup with pansy blossoms (edible!), fresh turbot, roasted potatoes and spinach, a cheese course, a meringue with ice cream and then mini ice cream cones ( Joe, ice cream enthusiast that he is, ate three).
The conversation between Joe and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson centered around the challenges in getting people vaccinated, Putin and his agenda, childcare, the Social Security system — but when they started outgunning each other with obscure statistics, I stopped listening. This is what happens when you get a bunch of politicians together for what’s supposed to be a party, I thought. The charts come out.
At every event we’d been at together, Kate and William were friendly. When Princess Kate and I cooed over rabbits at a primary school in West Cornwall, I found her instantly likable, very unassuming. She made me feel at ease. She seemed so grounded. I encouraged her to keep a journal about her experiences. She said she liked to draw and paint, but I said you can never have too many ways to privately express your feelings.
Tea with Queen Elizabeth II, just a few months after Prince Philip’s passing:
Joe and I both looked forward to tea with Queen Elizabeth. After flying to Windsor Castle by helicopter, we were taken to survey the troops inside the courtyard. This is customary in the UK, and American presidents offer the same presentation when heads of state visit the United States.After posing for a photo, we followed the queen to the elevator to take us to the second floor. It was just the three of us. British protocol had advised us not to talk about family since her husband, Prince Philip, had died just a few months prior, at the age of 99.
So I studiously did not ask the queen about her husband or anything related to the royal family. As soon as we began speaking, though, she filled us in on her 11 great-grandchildren and the new one on the way. I was amazed that she poured the tea herself and wanted to talk about foreign policy. She had two new Corgi puppies to help her through the hard times. One came in, and she gave him half a smoked salmon tea sandwich.
…I think she and Joe could have gone on talking forever. She had such a wonderful sense of curiosity about people and world events. She was rather honest about some leaders she disapproved of, and I felt grateful to be taken into her confidence.
As we were about to leave, someone came in and presented us with a small box of freshly picked strawberries from the garden and a bunch of red souvenir pencils with gold crowns at the top.
People were surprised that Irish Joe Biden wanted to attend QEII’s funeral in 2022, but I always believed that he had respect for the old gal, and he probably did enjoy talking about history and politics with her. Interesting that in 2021, QEII mentioned that she had another great-grandchild on the way… that would be Lilibet Diana. As for what Dr. Biden says about Kate… yes, Jill makes Kate sound like a little girl who draws and twirls her skirt, but I think that’s probably an accurate representation of Kate’s personality. That’s how everyone talks about her, like she’s a big girl who has to be constantly praised for doing big-girl things like wear big-girl buttons and wigs, go to one meeting a month and “issue book reports about the Early Years.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Backgrid.
