Queen Elizabeth Was Moved To Tears By A Gift From The Obamas

Former President of the United States Barack Obama and the first lady Michelle Obama went on a three-day trip to the United Kingdom in 2011 and were greeted by the Queen herself. As a ritual, the couple presented Queen Elizabeth with a variety of gifts as soon as they met her.

Nine years after their meeting, it has now been revealed that the Queen was moved to tears after seeing one of the gifts she received by the Obamas.

In an interview with People, Capricia Penavic Marshall, chief of protocol for the U.S. in 2011, noted that the British monarch got very emotional when the former president and his wife presented the Queen with a leather-bound collection of memorabilia from her late father King George VI’s last visit to the United States.

Marshall told the publication that the Obamas wanted to make sure that their visit would strengthen the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K., particularly with the Queen. The team that accompanied Barack and Michelle on the trip researched on the royal family and found out that the Queen had an amazing relationship with her dad.

During their research, they also established that she collected “anything and everything” that was related to her late father.

“We wanted to make sure that what we were furthering this special relationship with the UK and particularly with Her Majesty. President and Mrs. Obama were so, so very fond of her. In doing our research, we learned that [Queen Elizabeth] had a cherished relationship with her father, and she collected anything and everything that she could about him,” People quoted Marshall, as saying.

Later in the interview, Marshall also shed some light on the moment when Her Majesty was looking at the memorabilia that included invitations and notes. The entire staff hoped that she would like the present when the monarch was flipping the pages.

It turned out the Queen loved the present and was overwhelmed by the sweet gesture.

“And I want to say that I saw a little glisten of a tear in her eye after she paged through it a bit. She looked to the president said, ‘Thank you so very much for this,’” Marshall told the publication.

Apart from the memorabilia, the Obamas also gifted her with a floral brooch.

Marshall has written a book called “Protocol: The Power of Diplomacy and How to Make It Work For You” that details some of the important moments when she accompanied the Obamas.