US President Joe Biden ended the initial leg of his first overseas trip on Sunday, inspecting a military guard of honour and taking tea with Queen Elizabeth II. Although they met at the G7 summit, Biden and the first lady had an altogether more private meeting with the Queen at her home in Windsor Castle on Sunday.

A 78-year-old US leaders’ Marine One helicopter landed on Windsor Castle as the Monarch, 95, received the Bidens for tea at her historic residence. On their arrival, they were greeted with an official Guard of Honor military parade, which included a military band playing both the British and US national anthems. She has now formally met 13 of the 14 sitting US Presidents since she took the throne in 1952, except Lyndon Johnson who did not travel to Britain while in office.

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It was the monarch’s first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since the coronavirus pandemic. Biden stood next to the Queen, wearing his aviator sunglasses, before inspecting the troops in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle. Queen was seen wearing a pink floral dress with a matching hat, as she is back on the frontline royal suits after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, who died aged 99 in April.

The Queen met Biden alongside other world leaders and their spouses on Friday at the G7 summit and also hosted a reception at the Eden project eco-visitor attraction for them. She amused the leaders when she quipped during a photocall, “Are you supposed to be looking as if you’re enjoying yourselves?”

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Bidens paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, saying,  “His legacy will live on not only through his family but in all the charitable endeavors he shaped.” Biden had first met the Queen in 1982 as a Democratic senator of Delaware but this time he joined her as the US President. The Queen has hosted four other American presidents at Windsor Castle in recent years, including Biden predecessor Donald Trump in 2019, he breached royal protocols by walking ahead of the Queen, blocking her view. 

The US lady Jill Biden told reporters that meeting the Queen was “an exciting part of the visit for us.” after the private afternoon tea with the queen, Biden will then travel for NATO summit, before heading to Switzerland on Wednesday for the first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.