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peter: david charter, author of "royal audience." you are going to be part of a c-span first. we are going to read a recipe. calls for four teacups sugar, tweggs, two teaspoons bicarbonate of soda, three teaspoons, and two tablespoons meed butter. beat eggs, sugar, and about how if -- half the milk together. add remainder of milk as required. fold in the melted butter. what and who's recipe is this? mr. charter: it's a very remarkable recipe that queen elizabeth ii, the late queen of

great britain, gave to president eisenhower after he had had what relys a remarkable special treatment from the royal family. that was, he was invited to the summer holiday retreat of the royal family, a private lace where very few members of british high society get to go, let alone share a picnic where they queen makes scones, a kind of pancake eisenhower enjoyed so much that the queen said i will send you the recipe. when she was a few weeks later, actually she was withdrawn a little because she was pregnant at the time. she saw a photograph of eisenhower in the paper and it reminded her, i must some the recipe to ike. so she had it typed up and in her own hand she wrote extra guidance at the bottom, and sent off the recipe. peter: why was eisenhower

special? because of their shared experience, generation, etc.? mr. charter: i have looked at the queen's relationship over her old 70 year reign. and it's pretty clear when you look at how the royal family collectively, but also the queen related to eisenhower. he was a standout president for them. and i think it is pretty clear, it goes back to her formative years in the second world war. when she saw the gis come over she was in those meetings as a teenager actually sometimes with her father george vi and eisenhower. it was the biggest moment almost, the turning point of the second world war, d-day, 1944. eisenhower is in charge of the operation, it went brutal in late -- it went brilliantly. of course many lives were lost. the queen never forgot that sacrifice and that remarkable

achievement, the e-invasion of europe. churchill told her, we have an special relationship with america. you must keep the americans close. it was the mission of her life and eisenhower was someone who made it easy for her to achieve. peter: and queen elizabeth had a horse named eisenhower as well? mr. charter: remarkably, the horses that pulled the royal state coach at her coronation were named after 40 -- for missed generals -- after famous generals. and one of them was called eisenhower. peter: the queen took her rain beginning may 5, 1942. biden, trump, obama, george w. bush, clinton -- and truman . that's 14. but the subtitle of your book is

70 years and 13 president. who was left out? mr. charter: obviously he is part of american history, but sadly, not one that the queen met while he was sitting president. lbj. there are reasons for this, which i go into in the book. there are accidental, if you like, reasons that when jfk was assassinated, she was planning -- she would have liked to have gone to the funeral. she could not go pretty her doctors prevented her because she was too heavily pregnant at the time. when churchill died a couple of years later, lbj wanted to come but he got sick during his inauguration in january 1965. and his doctors prevented him from traveling to the u.k.. so if it were not for those unfortunate accidents of

history, they would have met. but what happened of course was that lbj's full term became completely overwhelmed with vietnam and he was angry with the british under their prime minister who would not commit troops to vietnam. and he basically had little time for those countries that were not assisting. he focused on the countries and visiting and entertaining leaders from the countries that were assisting in vietnam. peter: how important was her sister margaret's visit to the u.s., where she met lbj? mr. charter: that's right. there was nd of a makeup visit that lbj already knew margaret from previousngagements. the independence celebrations in jamaica, for example. and so when margaret announced her first big royal tour of america, the british establishment did not wanted it

to be all glamorous parties and hollywood, which margaret probably wanted it to be. she knew lbj a little. it was fixed up she would have dinner at the white house. and so while the queen did not meet lbj, there was a rather glamorous and favorite occasion. lbj was not one for parties. i think it was perhaps the biggest white house party dinner of the entire administration, where she sat next to the president and everyone had a fine old time. and lbj, who was recovering from an operation at the time, perhaps against dr.'s advice, took to the dance floor with margaret. peter: did that include anglo-american relations at the time? mr. charter: that is a good question. i think it is said that lbj never bore a real grudge against

britain that would be damaging to the special relationship. his problem was with the labour prime minister who was refusing to commit british troops, because that was causing tremendous problems with his own party back home. when you get a royal visitation like that, history shows us, and throughout the book as well, that the atmosphere dinner -- generally improves. the publicity around it is so normally positive that relationships are kept at a special level. it is not every country that can arrange to have a member of his leading family attend a dinner at the white house, and a dinner that i all accounts the lady was really excited to be able to

host. for a change, in the lbj white house. peter: you also write that the queerady rd johnson. mr. charter: that's right. a ssequent visit to texas, she was able to meet her. but she met various other first ladies and former president. she met former president hoover on a trip as well. 13 sitting presidents is in the title of the book, but you can see the wealth of her connections and meetings with senior american politicians was really extraordinary. i don't think it would have been repeated by anyone else in history. peter: you conjecture, along with dwight eisenhower, she had some other favorite. who do you mentioned? mr. charter: right. i think because it was so difficult for me to pin down one favorite, i thought -- there are

several that stand out. i really came down for eisenhower. that is obviously clear. i spoke to susan eisenhower, his granddaughter, about it, and she gave me really nice details about how, for example, eisenhower painted. eisenhower was famously quite a good hobby painter. but for her own greatest generation, if you like, she really did get on with reagan. and probably what viewers will know, if they know anything about tiship between the queen and presidents, there was a famous horse ride range windsor park when he visited in 1982t wareally symbolic. i don't think you would see anywhere else an american president sharing a horse ride with another wool leader. or any leaders going through the trouble or perhaps having the delight of doing such an event for the cameras.

but it was pretty clear to me that she got on famously with the bushes, especially george h.w. bush. that was partly because of barbara bush. i think she really liked and respected this dog loving, animal loving matriarch with a big family and slightly troublesome sons. that perhaps was something they had in common. and they got along famously, just because of that similarity. then i also say from the younger generation, the postwar generation, it's prettr that a really nice relationship developed with the obamas lat on in the queen's life course. it wasn't clear to the british that obama liked great britain and was that interested in europe, as much as say the people of great britain seemed to be rather enthusiastic about

him. and so he got special treatment from the queen, but they clicked immediately. you can see for example when michelle obama and the girls were privately traveling in london, they got invited to buckingham palace and the girls got a carriage ride around the grounds of buckingham palace, all privately, no media. just a sign of a close relationship. peter: you describe queen elizabeth ii as the undisputed jewel of u.k. diplomacy. mr. charter: no question for me that she was, on many levels, a fantastic but also necessary performer for our country. now, this works on the superficial level, if you like, of publicity and photographs and pomp and circumstance. but if you look at what she did when she had her meetings, they

were rather strategically placed. she had a big state visit to america after the suez crisis. he wanted to bankrupt the country. he had not been told britain was going to invade egypt. he thought this could precipitate a conflagration with the soviet union maybe. so she went over to do the repair job, if you like, between britain and america. and this was the case in different ways throughout her reign. as i mentioned, actually, the realears about obama, also about president biden, did he really liked the u.k., was he really fond of ireland and irish republicanism so that he would not be thinking favorably towards britain? so what happens when he comes over as part of a g-7 meeting? only one of the seven leaders gets invited to windsor castle.

guess who? it's president biden who gets tea and crumpets with the queen. peter: where did the term special relationship come from? mr. charter: that is all down to winston churchill, wartime prime minister who came back into office in the 1950's just at the time when elizabeth came to the throne. he was her first prime minister. and he gave a speech in america, in missouri, at the invitation of president truman. he was friendly with truman from their interactions at the end of the wartime period. it's best known for the phrase, an iron curtain is falling over europe. but in that same speech he outlined what he thought should be the special relationship between britain and the commonwealth and america. not just militarily, by the way.

scientific research and education as well. but it has also become rather associated with the fact that at the time, britain and europe were heavily dependent upon american largess and funding to rebuild after the second world war. some historians view it as a little bit of a dependency, especially pleading if you like, more special on one side than the other. what the queen managed to do through her reign was established this term of churchill's as a partnership of equals in terms of the level of involvement in the modern era with trains and investment between the countries is that had become much more important. peter: for those who are semi-familiar with the u.s./british history, some of this sounds familiar from "the crown."

how accurate is that series? mr. charter: well, we could do a whole program going blow-by-blo through different episodes of "the crown." it should be enjoyed for what it is. a lot of it is done with artistic license. for example when margaret visited lbj as we discussed, there were no reports of a limerick contest or a kiss afterwards. there are reports of some quite frenetic dancing. i mean, they are not talking about lbj and margaret so much as some of the other guests. and it was a great evening. but it was not quite as "the crown" portrayed it. peter: you describe the u.s. as royal obsessed. mr. charter: well, we are doing a whole hour on c-span on the royals. that is not the only thing, of

course. if you look at the tv viewing figures, ias quite amazed to learn that the audience for prince william and catherine's wedding was a bigger tv audience than for the royal wedding for prince charles and diana spencer. and that just shows that it's big in america. you can scroll through the tv channels now and probably find a documentary on diana. it's never gone away. it just shows the interest has continued with successive generations. without putting too fine a point on it, really, the soap opera side of it, which has sadly overtaken the two boys, william and harry of course, dominates in american news and watercooler discussion as much as events

between the stars of american popular life. peter: and you spend quite a bit of time here in the states, don't you? what is your day job. mr. charter: yes, i am assistant editor of the times of london. that makes me the washington bureau chief here in washington. i have lived and worked here for five years. and it became pretty clear to me, one of the reasons why i thought to the book actually was that it is a real conversation point whenever i am in social gatherings. the conversation ready quickly comes around to the whale family. -- to the royal family. i am supposed to know from the u.k. of course, exactly what is going on behind the curtain. peter: you also write that 55 million americans watched the queen's 1953 coronation, which is a huge number when you think about the number of tv's. are the brits as obsessed as we

are? mr. charter: that is a good question. if anything there is a bit too much of it in the u.k., and so some people get a bit fed up with it. too much gossip. because one thing about the royal family and the thing i have tried to avoid in the book is that because they are rather private and a lot of interactions happen behind the scenes and a lot of conversation is not recorded, there is not much video, for example, or diary records of the queen's personal conversations. the tabloids and the media often tend to fill in the gaps with speculation and supposition. and what i have tried to do in the book is get to what was really going on, what we know

from the historical record, what i know from people who were involved in setting up some of these meetings. but that is to say that there is a lot of media coverage of the royals which is not terribly reliable. so it is a bit overwhelming at times. you might feel it in america too. and that's ultimately not a great thing for the royal family either. it needs to maintain a certain level of popular support to continue. it is a total anachronism. it is a hereditary family that has been at the pinnacle of british society and politics for 1000 years. and you would not create a system like that in the modern democratic age. and yet especially queen elizabeth ii, i feel, became a real linchpin of the

constitutional democracy as it has evolved in my country. peter: what was the impact of the 1969 bbc documentary? mr. charter: that is a great question, because it was the first time that cameras were ever allowed into buckingham palace to see the royals in their private quarters in their offices. and they are at play. you see prince philip flying up his flying hours. there are other scenes of them on the royal yacht britannia practicing the evacuation procedure and having to put on lifejackets and jumping off onto another ship. this was a revelation when it was broadcast in britain. because the access, it was just unknown before. you heard them talking in relaxed terms to each other, but one of the scenes captured is a visit by president nixon who

goes into buckingham palace. and he is actually talking to prince charles, who was a young man at the time, aged about 21. supposedly one of the world's most eligible bachelors. and nixon raises the subject of, oh, my daughter's follow you very closely on television. and prince philip who is there, he has been briefed that nixon is a bit of a royalist and he has thoughts about one of his daughters particularly, the one who is not married. prince philip says, oh well, one of the daughters perhaps not so much, meaning that one of nixon's daughters just got married. so there was one who is single that might be interested to follow the activities of the most eligible bachelor in the world, and that's unfortunately when the whole party moves after the camera shot down the corridor. but this comes up later, when prince charles makes a visit to washington, his first trip as

prince of wales. funnily enough, he finds himself in almost every situation like at the baseball park or the wildlife sanctuary, for the party on the white house grnds, somehow tricia nixon has always been placed alongside him, which made for some great pictures. charles himself later said, oh yes, that is when they were trying to set me up with tricia nixon. peter: did the queen ever meet fdr, that you know of? mr. charter: she did not, no. she was the first royal ever to fly across the atlantic, but th was in 1951 after the death of fdr. when she was still a princess she met truman. peter: because of course joe kennedy was fdr's ambassador for a while. mr. charter: this is a really interesting point that emerges from her formative years in the run-up to the war. kennedy becomes a rather unpopular ambassador in britain, because he, for one, cannot see

why on earth america should get involved in the war in europe and makes that pretty clear. that is not what fdr is thinking. however, fdr is campaigning on keeping america out of any war in europe. so there's this contradiction in what is being presented to the public a bit. and there's hits -- this chafing behind the scenes were fdr wants joseph kennedy to get with the program, that america will support the u.k. if it really comes to it, but while he is campaigning for his reelection, he's not going to commit to send british troops into mainland europe, for example. and so they fall out and eventually joseph kennedy is recalled. but not before quite a famous, or quite an intriguing meeting happens. because kennedy's son, john

kennedy, comes to visit on a break from harvard. he comes to stay and basically have fun in london high society and visit europe. in fact, he even gets as far as berlin i think on that trip, just to see how things are shaping down in the run-up to war. and of course he gets invited to buckingham palace for presentation events to the king. and has coffee afterwards with the 12-year-old princess elizabeth, making the 21-year-old jfk the first, later to be president, that princess elizabeth ever met. we don't know much about the conversation, but we have this extraordinary scene of little princess elizabeth, 21-year-old jfk, soon to be perhaps both the most famous people in the world, just having a cup of coffee and

making chitchat. i see elizabeth kathy time was rather keen on the american film "snow white," so that is probably what she talked about. peter: did that joe kennedy relationship affect her relationship with president kennedy? mr. charter: there is no indication that that affected it. however, they only met once. history, of course, intervened to prevent later meetings. did meet, when jfk came they london after a very successful statt to france with jacki e, was again the subject of a whole episode of "the crown" that played up the antagonism between jackie and the queen. because jackie did tell one of her writer friends, i think it was gore vidal, that i believe the queen presented me. that was spun out -- the queen resented me.

that was spun out into a whole episode of "the crown." jackie does not like seeing her husband fawn over the new cover girl of the world. now she's been outshone by camelot in the white house. but i do not think there was any real animosity between the first couple and the queen, because jackie kennedy was invited back to a private lunch a year later when she happened to be privately passing through london, for example. but i do say in the book, and i think that this is right, that kennedy really preferred the society of man to talk politics. he did not have any women in his cabinet. and perhaps conversation did not flow as easily as it did with most other presidents. peter: in november of 1963 though, the queen did something

special that had never been done before after the death of jfk. mr. charter: yes. this is captured towards the end of an episode in "the crown" act ually, where news breaks, the queen shares global horror and dismay of course. she asks that the bell at westminster abbey be rung the next day consistently for a whole hour. and that is only something that would ever be done for the death of a senior member of the royal family. and that was seen in its day as a remarkable gesture. later after 9/11, when she asked during the changing of the guard to play the star-spangled banner, and of course there is a large crowd outside, and many americans and brits were moved to tears. a couple of the royals appeared,

and w a remarkable gesture. she also attended the 9/11 service and was seen to be singing the american national anthem. that was extraordinary, because she had never been seen singing the anthem of another country. she never sung her own anthem to herself. showed a connection, i think, that comes through in all of the meetings throughout the book, that she really has strong personal affinity for america. feels it is a special place that churchill said, and she came to -- it was respected because of the war effort, but she enjoyed her relationship with america. she spent private holidays there. if you answer, what does the queen do for fun, it's horses.

she's interested in the breeding and racing of her horses. she had at least five private holidays i was able to find out about that she spent in horse country in america. peter: 1976, american bicentennial. was that a politically sensitive visit by the queen to come to the states? mr. charter: in the archives of the foreign office, there are some, now it seems, hilarious documents about senior figures in the british civil service, men in suits, if you like, fretting about whether this visit is appropriate. should the queen go to help celebrate a country that rebelled against the crown a mere 200 years ago? one ambassador, or senior figure writes to another, that there

will be a certain amount of ballyhoo. and does the queen want to be associated with this vest in america? of course the queen is not bothered by this. this is the consternation behind it seems. but a compromise has to be reached, according to the brits. so she does t rive until july 6, a coupl after the actual date. she does not go straight to washington, she goes to philadelphia, which was rather appropriate. but it turns out that despite all the misgivings of the british establishment to be really a fantastically successful trip. peter: of the 13 presidents that she had diplomatic or personal relationships with, did they ever use each other for political purposes to bolster images? mr. charter: yeah. you have hit a nail there. talking about the 1976 visit, this was july 1976, it was in

the run-up to the convention, the republican convention. and ford had not qui csed down the nomination. so some of the guests -- and it was very hard to get on these guest lists. this comes across everything the time there is a state visit, the scrambling to get in the room, to be amongst the 120 or so people invited to the white house, this dinner. but several seats are set aside by ford for senior figures from states which have yet to come down, either for him or reagan, in the battle for the nomination. and i believe, well, history tells us that it tipped his way, right? peter: while she was visiting the white house on that visit though, jack ford made an appearance. what happened? the son of the president. mr. charter: yes. this is the time when she is

being led into the white house. there have been the formal greetings. and betty ford of course is absolutely determined the trip will go to the book and be perfect. she's organized everything. she's made sure the dress code is understood, that everybody knows the protocol. everybody has been given a primer on how to greet the queen as your majesty the first time and the second time. prince philip is your royal highness the first time, the second time. went to touch the royals. how to greet them and what to serve them. however, when the elevator doors opened to go into the private area of the white house, there's young jack, and he can't find his shirt cuffs. so he's bare chested, his shirt is open, no shoes, i don't know if he has socks on. there he is standing there in

front of the queen. betty ford was rather mortified. the queen laughed it off. oh, i've got one of those at home. peter: president carter, the queen mother. what happened, and how big a deal was it? mr. charter: yeah. so, again, carter is another president the queen only met once, and that was during a big set piece event, like a g8 summit in london. there's an intriguing photograph before dnei have in the book that shows carter holding hands thhe queen mother. seems to be going on rather well. however, the story that emerges after the dinner is that carter felt he got on so famously with the queen mother that he gave her a passing kiss. she described it as a kiss on

the lips, and that she took a step backwards, but not far enough. and she told her biographer -- no, she told a houseguest that nobody has done that since my late husband died. that was george vi some 25 years earlier, of course. reflections differ a little, because carter, subsequent to this coming out in the press -- you ask if it was a big deal at the time, it was not a big deal at the time. it did not emerge until several years later when the queen mother told the story and it started to feature in the british media. then there was a bit of fuss about it. but carter addresses it in one of his biographical books and talks a little about how he got on with the queen and what they discussed, but also that he bid farewell to the queen mother and

it was not as described. and no offense of course was intended. he was mortified that it should come out quite like that. but i think it added to my impression that the royals were rather wary of carter, did not quite know how to handle him exactly. he was probably the person who was least like the -- i mean, nobody is like the royal family, who has inherited all this wealth, i suppose. but coming from his rural background, not being -- not having these connections with all these will leaders and this great history -- these world leaders and this great history of global diplomacy, shall we say, that carter himself admits is only previous brush the royalty was when he was a tourist on a georgia visit a few

years before, where he peered through the railings at buckingham palace as a tourist, that kind of wide-eyed feeling. so, they were really chalk and cheese, the queen and carter. not that the queen herself would have let that disturb relations in any way. as i say, she was a compliment -- consummate diplomat. and she regarded it as her job, especially when there was some awkwardness in the relationship, either in politics or personally between them. she would make an extra effort to smooth things over and put everyone at their ease, and really make sure they were not any of these incidents that got into the media and overshadowed the true purpose of the event, which was to improve relations. peter: often, we americans do not understand the rules about touching the royals. it was in 1991 that she visited,

and she met alex fraser. mr. charter: right. this is one of those visits that get set up on the side of a state visit, where the visiting royal dignitaries can meet real americans. alice fraser was an african-american lady living in the southeast of washington. who had recently got some public housing. or, she had recently got some budget housing. her own roof overhead for the first time. ween coming through the barbara bush -- she was told the queen was going to be coming through with barbara bush. she is going to come through to see how this area is being approved by the authorities. and she was warned that the queen, she would not eat, she j

ust wanted to do the photo opportunity and say hello. alice spent the whole night preparing numerous dishes in her kitchen. the queen, protocol dictated that she would not do it. but she was also very keen to give the queen a hug, which she did. this word awkward comes up again. if you can search the book, the word awkward appears quite a lot. there is a very awkward photograph of the queen sming, butking faintly alarmed as alice frazier gives her a very warm, big hug. because frankly, nobody ever hugs the queen, certainly not in public. but as alice frazier explained afterwards, she said she felt as a fellow mother, she felt an attachment and walked towards the queen and wanted to express

her feelings in her way, even though she had been briefed not to touch the queen. she was certain to make an impression. once again, what you hear from the queen or the palace on her behalf, is of course the queen was delighted to meet such a friendly person. the last thing the queen wants to do is to have her visit become some sort of microscope, especially if it embarrasses her hosts, or the people that she meets. but on this occasion, this was front-page news. and like a lot of times when things go a bit awry, that moment becomes one of the best-known photographs of the trip. and curiously, and things don't go too awry, it seems to add to

the general warmth of the impression that is created by the queen. and that is her goal, is to cement this warm glow between the countries who are supposed to have this special relationship. peter: we want to show some video from 2007, george w. bush was president. here it is. pres. bush: the american people are proud to welcome her majesty back to the united states, a nation you have come to know very well. after all, you dined with 10 u.s. presidents. you helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 1976. [laughter] she gave me a look that only a mother can give a child. queen elizabeth: i wondered if i

actually was here in 1776. [laughter] peter: that was her final state visit. mr. charter: that's right. and you can tell that there is a real warmth with president bush. that developed from her relationship with his father, actually. because george w. bush was invited to the first lunch he had in 1991 at the white house with george h.w. bush. her and barbara bush were at the table. she said i put my texas son at the other end of the table. and she said, is he the black sheep of the family? and of course george w. bush can hear her. then he pipes up, well, maybe. who's the black sheep in your family? so begins the banter between the bush family and the royals.

it developed in a friendly way. i think the fact that george w. bush refers to it in those familiar terms, a look a mother with only give a child, reflects how there was a family, almost, connection between the royal couple, between the queen and that bush family, partly because of the history. and just partly because they clicked. they got each other. peter: the cover photo on your book, "royal audience," where was that taken? mr. charter: one thing i would say is that -- one thing i would say is that the two most famous photographs of the queen with an american president is both with ronald reagan. there is the horse ride we talked about in 1982, and on the follow-up visit reagan wants

the queen to come to california to see his place and to do return horse rides with his own horses. now, unfortunately, it rains and rains and rains, and the horse right has to be called off. but they still have this big dinner in california. and the photographers are ready, because the speech had been given out, it was prepared. and there was a joke coming, a laugh line coming from the queen , where she says, i know that america has adopted a lot of our british traditions, but i did not realize the weather was one of them. and reagan throws his head back and slaps the table, and the photographer catches it perfectly in this picture. peter: how close did queen elizabeth and ronald reagan become over the years? mr. charter: the reason for their closeness, which was real, was on several levels, but the

main one was, we talked about the horse ri shared took a lot of organizing. there wot otransatlantic traffic between the men in suits, gaain, the civil servants, to arrange what type of horse, what type of saddle, what are they going to wear, what are they going to go, where the secret service agents going to do? but simultaneously to this, argentina had invaded a british territory, the falkland islands in the south atlantic. and when reagan was making his visit, a british task force was on its way to do battle with the argentinian occupiers of the falkland islands, which is a crown territory. but moreover, the queen's son andrew is serving as a helicopter pilot with this task force.

and british troops are getting killed and injured. helicopter pilots getting shot at. and so, you've got this remarkable split screen that, on the one hand, there's this seemingly frivolous spectacle of the horse ride being organized between london and washington. on the other hand, different channels, but i think aware of each other, are organizing rather secretly american help for the brits. satellite photographs, refueling of ships going to the falkland islands. this doesn't come out, a lot of it, until 20 years later. the queen knows at this particular point just how ronald reagan is really helping behind the scenes. he tries to resolve it diplomatically, it proves impossible. but reagan throw out is committed to helping british

with a military victory in the falklands, which he does. it is also due to his relationship with margaret thatcher at the time. but the queen puts the icing on the cake. she makes sure that when reagan is coming to europe, actually for some events like g7 and nato, that there is a british leg of the trip, because he is keen to do the horse rides. and this is kind of a reward in some way, but kind of a thank you for the help in the falklands. and this begins -- cements, really, the queen's respect for reagan as a guy, as a president, as a leader. it means so much to her as her country's figurehead, but also as a mother caring about her own son. peter: there is a third leg in

this stool, which is the official british government, the prime minister, whoever it happens to be at the time. are the palace and the prime minister coordinating? mr. charter: oh yes. yes. behind the scenes, the biggest speeches will be drafted through downing street, where the prime minister -- it's the prime minister's residence. the queen gets to host two state visits a year. the late queen got to host two state visits a year. these are determined by the prime minister. they are four important foreign leaders, and she hosted leaders from over 100 different countries. only two get the honor, if you like, all the pomp and circumstance. perhaps an address to parliament, a glittering dinner at buckingham palace, a return

perhaps at the u.s. ambassador's residence. involves at least three if not four days of ceremonies and speeches and media opportunities. which are fantastic opportunities for visiting dignitaries as much as for britains, who either give a reward to a country who has been helpful, or to try and win round a country where there has been a problem in the relationship. so the government is very much involved. this is especially the case with -- later on, there were concerns about obama's commitment to britain and europe. later they were concerns about donald trump's commitment to europe and, especially in the wake of the brexit vote in britain.

we were looking for new trading relationships. so what's the top card the prime minister at the time, teresa may, can play? would you like a state visit? peter: this is from 2011, president obama at buckingham palace. queen elizabeth: mr. president, i firmly believe that the strength of our links and many shared interests will continue to ensure that when the united states and the united kingdom stand together, our people and other people of goodwill around the world will be more secure and can become more prosperous. pres. obama: two her majesty the queen, the vitality of the special relationship between our people, and in the words of shakespeare, to this blessed plot, this earth, this realm. peter: the music started a bit

early there, didn't it? mr. charter: what happened was the band, which by the way was on the bow come above them, thought they had their cue when obama said, her majesty the queen. so they struck up. however, obama still had a few words left to say. he thought, oh, this is nice, it is like a movie almost where there is background music and i can finish my speech. so he persists with finishing his speech. peter: where the so-called men in suits relieved when he used the term special relationship, as he had used special partnership earlier in his administration? mr. charter: that is absolutely right. when britain first or the obama administration talking of a special partnership, alarm bells started ringing. when they invited the japanese prime minister to be the first one into the oval office from

overseas, there was almost a meltdown as you can imagine in the british establishment. he managed to get out pretty quickly, and the next one after the japanese prime minister. but obama also knew by this stage of course how much it meant to the brits. whether it came up in private conversation with the queen in some way, we don't really know. but it would have been obvious from the questions from reporters in press conferences and the coverage in the media, when the phrase special relationship began to seemingly be dropped by the obama administration. what can we do to get things back on track? as i say, when obama made his first visit for the g20, only one leader of all the 20 nations gets invited up to buckingham palace for lunch, and that is

the american president. peter: what does it mean to be a royalist? mr. charter: yes. that's a good question. and i think in u.k. terms, it means to be supportive of this institution as an important function of british governance, but also our way of life. you know, on christmas day, many brits would settle down in front of the television after christmas lunch, and they will watch the monarch come on at 3:00 and deliver their christmas message. and i personally feel that this became such a fixture with the queen that it will definitely continue with king charles now on the throne. and it's one point where we get to hear from them directly. to be a royalist really means that you've somehow squared this

strange contradiction in british life. that we are a democracy, a very old democracy, and yet our head of state is not elected, they are born into it. and to somehow make that contradiction reality, the royal family has to strive to remain popular, has to appear at least in its senior members, to be actually focused on being in promotion of my country. but this system cannot be sustained without popular support. can we have seen episodes where the royals have got it wrong, like in the death of diana when the queen was perceived to have state too long in scotland with loon to meet the grievingn to

crowds or see all the flowers outside buckingham palace. and public opinion began to turn. tony blair was prime minister at the time. he realized this, as a royalist himself, and he began to step in and do his own pr for the royal family to recover the situation. so, on both sides of the equation, there's -- both sides have to be committed to sustaining this institution. peter: september 20, 2022. the queen dies. president biden attends her funeral. here are some brief remarks from him. pres. biden: we've had the opportunity to meet with a lot of consequential people. i can say that the ones who stand out in your mind are those whose relationship and interaction with you are

consistent with their reputation. she was the same in person as her image. decent, honorable, and all about service. peter: 70 years, 14 presidents during her reign. was president biden correct, in your view, about what he said about her? mr. charter: oh, i really think he made a terrific tribute there. and it really meant a lot to the brits. because there have been some media coverage about how certainly -- his mother famously did not like the royal family. famously his mother told him -- well, maybe not famously. [laughter] but his mother told him when he was first as a senator coming to the u.k. as a senate group go to meet the queen, don't you kiss

her ring, don't you bow down to her. her mother apparently one stayed at a hotel where she was convinced the queen slept in the bed, so his mother slept on the floor. this is a story that biden tells. and of course he is committed to his irish roots and irish republicanism. but the real picture with biden was much more nuanced. he, for example, during the falklands conflict, was very active in the senate for promoting support for britain as a great ally of america. so there were signs that biden is not going to trash the special relationship before. but the fact that he warmed so much to the queen, rather like obama before him. biden emerged from his windsor castle meeting.

and what did he say? that she reminded him of my mother. now, that's a real compliment coming from biden. his mother is a very special person in his life. in his mother, by the way, was very anti-royalist. and yet he used that particular description of the queen in a very warm and affectionate way. and i think it showed something about the strength of the relationship between our countries. that presidents, even if they have some antipathy towards british actions, british politics, they warm to our head of state. there's a difference of course, that struggle that sometimes happens with america is that your head of state is also your head of government. and so, they are much more indelibly associated with certain politics. the royals can rise above politics. they have that ability to be one step removed from the political

fray, which really helps them. peter: 1952 to 2022. 70 years queen elizabeth sat on the throne. the undisputed jewel of u.k. the flimsy. our guest david charter describes her. he is the u.s. editor of the times of london, and also the author of this book, "royal audience: 70 years, 14 presidents, one queen's special relationship with america." we appreciate your time here on c-span. mr. charter: thank you so much for having me. it's been great. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: all "q&a" programs are available on our website or as a podcast on our c-span now app.