US President Joe Biden paid tribute Thursday to Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II as a “stateswoman of unmatched dignity,” and said he looked forward to working with her son King Charles, noting their already “close friendship.”
“Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States,” Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden said in a statement.
“She helped make our relationship special,” he said.
Biden said he first met the queen in 1982 when he was a US senator and last saw her in June 2021 during his first foreign trip as president — the 14th American president she had met.
“She was the first British monarch to whom people all around the world could feel a personal and immediate connection,” the Bidens said.
“She, in turn, dedicated her whole life to their service,” they said.
“In the years ahead, we look forward to continuing a close friendship with the king and the queen consort,” they said, referring to Elizabeth’s son and heir King Charles and his wife.
“Today, the thoughts and prayers of people all across the United States are with the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in their grief,” they said.