Did Queen Elizabeth Once Throw Shade At Barack Obama?

As the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has kept up the tradition of meeting American presidents, including Barack Obama, who visited Buckingham Palace three times during his presidency. The president's visits to Buckingham Palace have been widely documented because of how well he, along with his wife, Michelle Obama, got on with the British monarch. During their second visit to the United Kingdom in 2011, the Obamas presented Elizabeth with a gift that was near and dear to her heart — a collection of memorabilia that documented her father's last visit to the United States, according to People. Elizabeth was so moved by the gift she shed a tear while looking through the book before thanking them for the gift. Clearly, Obama left a lasting impression on the queen because she reportedly wanted him and his family to visit more often.

Royal author Tom Quinn cited a former employee of the palace who told him that Elizabeth found Obama so engaging that she wanted advisors to make arrangements for him to visit as a private citizen (per Insider). However, Elizabeth might have rescinded that invitation after it was revealed Obama unknowingly annoyed her, causing the monarch to throw some shade at him during an official engagement.

While Queen Elizabeth appreciated the gifts the Obamas brought her during their visit to Buckingham Palace in 2011, she did also throw some shade at Barack Obama for keeping her from getting her beauty sleep. At a state banquet, the British monarch asked then-Chancellor George Osborne to tell Obama to leave because she wanted to go to bed. "And I looked over at — Barack Obama was having a great time, kind of knocking back vodka martinis with his mates, and I was like, 'Oh, my god, I'm going to be the person that has to go and tell him to go home,'" Osborne recalled during a talk with the Old Pauline Club, according to Insider.

Despite the awkward moment, Elizabeth and Prince Philip, who died in April of natural causes, were fantastic hosts. Former first lady Michelle Obama recalled that the royals were friendly and affectionate behind closed doors. "The surprising thing is folks wanted to be treated normally," Michelle said during Klick Health's MUSE event in New York in 2018 (per TODAY). "Everybody is happy when all the people are gone. They want to be hugged. They want to be touched. They gossip." Good to know that the royals are just like us.