Queen Elizabeth II meets US President Joe Biden and Jill Biden at Windsor Castle

Bidens meet monarch at her royal residence outside London

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II welcomed US President Joe Biden to her residence at Windsor Castle on Sunday, after the G7 summit in Cornwall, south-west England, this weekend.

The American leader and his wife Jill Biden were greeted with a guard of honour and tea at the monarch's royal residence in Berkshire, just outside London.

The queen met the Bidens at Windsor's quadrangle, as the Grenadier Guards gave a royal salute and the US national anthem was played.

They had already met this weekend at the G7 gathering.

On Saturday, Elizabeth received her official birthday gift from the nation’s armed forces – a ceremony of pomp and pageantry in her honour – which was held at the castle.

Trooping the Colour, which is normally staged in central London, was ruled out for the second successive year because of coronavirus.

The carefully choreographed arrangements to welcome Mr Biden echoed the welcome given to Donald Trump in 2018, when he was president.

Queen Elizabeth II meets US President Joe Biden and Jill Biden at Windsor Castle

Queen Elizabeth II meets US President Joe Biden and Jill Biden at Windsor Castle

Mr Trump also travelled to Windsor, where he had afternoon tea with the queen in the castle’s Oak Room

Mr Biden also accompanied the Officer Commanding the Guard of Honour, Maj James Taylor, and Maj Gen Christopher Ghika to inspect the Honour Guard, before returning to the dais to watch the military march-past with the queen and Mrs Biden.

US President Joe Biden (C) inspects the Guard of Honour formed of The Queen's Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards at Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London, on June 13, 2021. US president Biden will visit Windsor Castle late Sunday, where he and First Lady Jill Biden will take tea with the queen. / AFP / Tolga Akmen
US President Joe Biden inspects the Guard of Honour formed of The Queen's Company First Battalion Grenadier Guards. AFP.

Escorting a visiting head of state to inspect the troops is a role that usually fell to the Duke of Edinburgh, before he retired in 2017. He died in April.

US President Joe Biden reaches out to hold the hand of First Lady Jill Biden after arriving to meet Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle near London, Sunday, June 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
US President Joe Biden reaches out to hold the hand of his wife Jill, after arriving to meet Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, near London. AP

There have been 14 US presidents during the queen’s 69-year reign, from Harry S Truman to Mr Biden.

Mr Biden is the 13th US president to meet the monarch, with Lyndon B Johnson being the only exception.