Queen Elizabeth II to meet Joe Biden in person after G7

Queen Elizabeth II will meet in person with US President Joe Biden on June 13 after he attends a G7 summit in Britain, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday.

It said the 95-year-old monarch will meet the president and First Lady Jill Biden at Windsor Castle west of London, where she has largely lived since the coronavirus pandemic first swept Britain in March 2020.

The Queen, who has received her two doses of Covid-19 vaccination, has been holding the vast majority of meetings virtually, including audiences with foreign ambassadors.

It will be her most high-profile official engagement since presiding over the state opening of parliament on May 11, which was her first public appearance since the funeral of her husband Prince Philip. He died on April 9, aged 99.

The meeting with the Bidens will come the day after her official birthday, and will follow the three-day summit of Group of Seven leaders in Cornwall, southwest England.

The G7 gathering marks Biden’s first foreign tour since taking office in January, and he will also make stops in Brussels and the Swiss city of Geneva — where he is set to hold a June 16 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson, the Queen has met every US president during her 69-year reign. Donald Trump staged a controversial state visit to Britain in June 2019.

The official birthday celebration is normally marked by a military parade called “Trooping the Colour”, featuring hundreds of personnel from Britain’s most prestigious regiments.

But it has been cancelled for a second year, owing to the pandemic.