President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden reacted to the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, praising her legacy in a nearly 500-word statement.
“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch,” the statement released by the White House read. “She defined an era.”
The president and first lady praised the queen’s legacy as the ruler of Great Britain, noting that during “a world of constant change” she was “a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons.”
But they also focused on the changes in the modern world that occurred during her reign.
“The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity,” the statement read.
The Bidens said the queen was “the first British monarch” that allowed people around the world to “feel a personal and immediate connection,” recalling her Christmas speeches and her Platinum Jubilee.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II smiles to the crowd from Buckingham Palace balcony at the end of the Platinum Pageant in London on June 5, 2022 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee celebrations. (Photo by CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
They also noted that she “led always with grace, an unwavering commitment to duty, and the incomparable power of her example.”
The Bidens also recalled the Queen’s words after the 9/11 terrorist attack and her visit to the United States to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in 2007.
“Queen Elizabeth II was a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock Alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States,” the statement read. “She helped make our relationship special.”
The Bidens recalled meeting the queen in 1982 and during their first overseas trip as president and First Lady in June 2021, noting she “charmed us with her wit, moved us with her kindness, and generously shared with us her wisdom ” during their visit.
“We send our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, who are not only mourning their Queen, but their dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother,” they wrote.
“Her legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world,” they concluded.
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