Queen’s stern warning to Barack Obama
A royal biographer has claimed that The Queen issued a stern warning to former President Barack Obama after a state dinner.
Barack Obama visited the UK on his first state visit in May 2011 with first lady Michelle Obama. They were the guests of honour at a state banquet held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Royal author Robert Hardman claims that what made the occasion “exceptional” was the rapport Obama had – with “a host who could talk with such authority about so many of his predecessors. “
In an extract of his new book, ‘Queen Of Our Times: The Life Of Elizabeth II’ published by Macmillan on March 17, Mr Hardman explains how the night unfolded.
Mr Hardman wrote: “Obama had been enjoying himself so much that the Queen had eventually taken the Chancellor of the Exchequer to one side to ask if he might, very discreetly, let the U.S. President know that it was bedtime.
“‘I just said: “Yes, Ma’am,’ George Osborne recalls. ‘I could see Obama with a drink in hand, and I was thinking: What do I do? I couldn’t just interrupt and say: ‘Oh, the Queen wants you to go to bed’.
“Fortunately, he was saved by the Queen’s private secretary, who gently nudged proceedings to a close.”