バイデン米大統領夫妻、エリザベス女王と茶会

【ウィンザー城ＡＦＰ＝時事】ジョー・バイデン米大統領（７８）と夫人のジル氏は１３日、英ロンドン西郊のウィンザー城を訪れ、エリザベス女王（９５）との茶会に臨んだ。（写真は英ロンドン西郊のウィンザー城でエリザベス女王と共に近衛兵を閲兵するジョー・バイデン米大統領夫妻）
　就任後初となる外遊中のバイデン氏は、先進７か国（Ｇ７）首脳会議（サミット）が開催されていた英南西部コーンウォールから大統領専用ヘリコプター「マリーンワン」でウィンザー城に到着。ピンク色の花柄のドレスに同色の帽子を合わせた女王の出迎えを受けた。
　１９５２年に即位した女王は、リンドン・Ｂ・ジョンソン氏を除くすべての歴代米大統領と公式に面会しており、バイデン氏は１３人目。
　また、新型コロナウイルス流行を受け、女王と外国首脳との直接の面会は１年以上行われていなかった。
　ダークスーツ姿のバイデン氏は、ウィンザー城の中庭で、赤の制服と黒のベアスキン帽をまとった近衛兵を閲兵した。
　茶会後、ウィンザーからまっすぐヒースロー空港に移動したバイデン氏は、大統領専用機「エアフォース・ワン」に乗る直前の取材で、エリザベス女王は「とても慈しみ深い」とコメント。米ホワイトハウスに招待したことを明かし、女王とさまざまな話をする中で「私の母親を思い出した」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/06/15-14:00）

Joe Biden on Sunday ended the first leg of his maiden overseas trip as US president, inspecting a military guard of honour and taking tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
In bright sunshine, the 78-year-old US leader's Marine One helicopter landed at Windsor Castle, west of London, after the three-day G7 summit in Cornwall, southwest England, wrapped up.
The Queen, 95 and wearing a pink floral dress with a matching hat, is now back on frontline royal duties after the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April.
She had met Biden and his wife, Jill, at the summit of G7 leaders on Friday, hosting a reception at the Eden project eco-visitor attraction.
And on Saturday, she reviewed a scaled-down Trooping of the Colour, also at Windsor, as part of her official birthday celebrations.
Sunday's high-profile reception for the Bidens, which included a military band playing both the British and US national anthems, means she has now formally met 13 of the last 14 sitting US presidents -- barring Lyndon B. Johnson -- since she took the throne in 1952.
Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, visited in June 2019.
It was also the monarch's first in-person meeting with a foreign leader in more than a year, after she was forced into self-isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden, in a dark suit, inspected the Grenadier Guards in their red tunics and black bearskin hats on the immaculate lawns of the historic royal palace's quadrangle.
Some of the soldiers had been involved in the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, the queen's husband of 78 years who died just weeks short of his 100th birthday.
The Bidens at the time paid tribute to the duke, saying: His legacy will live on not only through his family but in all the charitable endeavours he shaped.
They saluted eyes left as they marched past the monarch and the Bidens, who stood to attention under a white canopy, before the dignitaries disappeared inside.
The US First Lady, who is set to return to Washington after the regal reception, while her husband flies on to Europe for further meetings, said Friday it was an exciting part of their UK visit.
Afterwards at London's Heathrow Airport, a short drive away from Windsor, Biden told reporters on the tarmac before boarding Air Force One they had a long talk and the queen was very gracious.
Biden said he extended an invitation to the monarch to the White House, and added: I don't think she'd be insulted. She reminded me of my mother.