LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden, in London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, mentioned Sunday his center went out to the royal circle of relatives, including the queen’s dying left a “massive hollow.”
“It’s a loss that leaves an enormous hollow and now and again you suppose you’ll by no means conquer it,” mentioned Biden, who steadily talks in very non-public phrases about loss following the dying of his first spouse and younger daughter and later, his grownup son.
The president and primary woman Jill Biden have stored a low profile since touchdown in the UK. They traveled to Westminster Corridor to pay their respects together with loads of 1000’s of mourners who waited greater than 14 hours to stroll previous the queen’s casket.
Biden and the primary woman then went to Lancaster Space to signal the condolence ebook sooner than heading to Buckingham Palace for a reception hosted by way of King Charles III.
The president spoke in short after he signed the condolence ebook. “As I’ve instructed the king, she’s going to be with him each step of the best way,” Biden mentioned. “You have been lucky to have had her for 70 years. All of us have been.”
He mentioned her reign was once about “treating other folks with dignity.”
“I discuss how my parents concept that everybody, regardless of who they have been … regardless of the place they’re from, deserved to be handled with dignity,” the president mentioned. “And that’s precisely what she communicated. Simply the best way she walked by way of her body of workers, simply the best way that she acted.”
Biden wrote within the ebook that “Queen Elizabeth was once admired world wide for her unwavering dedication to provider.”
The primary woman signed a condolence ebook for spouses and ambassadors, writing “Queen Elizabeth lived her lifestyles for the folks. She served with knowledge and charm. We will be able to by no means overlook her heat, kindness and the conversations we shared.”
The president additionally mentioned Elizabeth modeled a way of provider.
“There’s one thing inside our capability to try this could make issues, no longer simply the arena higher, however your community higher, your family higher, your office higher,” he mentioned. “That’s what she communicated to me anyway. It was once an honor to fulfill her, an honor to fulfill her.”
The president will go back to the U.S. on Monday and head to New York for the U.N. Basic Meeting, the place he’s to collect with Top Minister Liz Truss, who had simply taken over because the queen died.
Greater than 2,000 other folks have been anticipated at Westminster Abbey on Monday for the state funeral.