Chapter 24
We had our fascinators ready, and yet it wasn’t until I was on the flight to London that it actually hit me that I was going.
The prior week, I’d thrown the South Korea state dinner, welcomed the president of the Philippines, hosted the Combatant Commanders dinner, administered final exams, and posted final grades.
As with so many historic moments in those four years, I was running so fast I barely had time to take any of it in.
At the dinner, I noticed how creative the menu was—melon soup with pansy blossoms (edible!), fresh turbot, roasted potatoes and spinach, a cheese course, a meringue with ice cream, and then mini ice cream cones (Joe, ice cream enthusiast that he is, ate three).
The conversation between Joe and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson centered around the challenges in getting people vaccinated, Putin and his agenda, childcare, the Social Security system—but when they started outgunning each other with obscure statistics, I stopped listening.
This is what happens when you get a bunch of politicians together for what’s supposed to be a party, I thought. The charts come out.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie, and I had decided to go for a walk earlier that day.
She awakened her baby, Wilfred, so he could join us.
I was amazed by how little he seemed to mind—any baby I’ve ever woken up has been outraged.
As we walked down to the water together, Wilfred on her hip, Carrie told me she was shy with the press and asked me how I managed.
My answer: You just get used to it, and try your best not to let it affect you.
And there are always opportunities to send a positive message—I was wearing my love jacket to signal warmth toward our allies.
At every event we’d been at together, Kate and William were friendly.
When Princess Kate and I cooed over rabbits at a primary school in West Cornwall, I found her instantly likeable, very unassuming.
She made me feel at ease. She seemed so grounded.
I encouraged her to keep a journal about her experiences.
She said she liked to draw and paint, but I said you can never have too many ways to privately express your feelings.
Joe and I both looked forward to tea with Queen Elizabeth. After flying to Windsor Castle by helicopter, we were taken to survey the troops inside the courtyard. This is customary in the UK, and American presidents offer the same presentation when heads of state visit the United States.
After posing for a photo, we followed the queen to the elevator to take us to the second floor. It was just the three of us. British protocol had advised us not to talk about family since her husband, Prince Philip, had died just a few months prior, at the age of ninety-nine.
So I studiously did not ask the queen about her husband or anything related to the royal family.
As soon as we began speaking, though, she filled us in on her eleven great-grandchildren and the new one on the way.
I was amazed that she poured the tea herself and wanted to talk about foreign policy.
She had two new Corgi puppies to help her through the hard times.
One came in, and she gave him half a smoked salmon tea sandwich.
Her personal living room was filled with photograph after photograph of members of her family. There was nothing stiff or stuffy about the room, but it held a quiet elegance—much like the queen herself.
We gazed through the large windows to the wing on the other side of the courtyard. Queen Elizabeth remarked that it was quite busy over there, but her wing was rather hushed.
I think she and Joe could have gone on talking forever. She had such a wonderful sense of curiosity about people and world events. She was rather honest about some leaders she disapproved of, and I felt grateful to be taken into her confidence.
As we were about to leave, someone came in and presented us with a small box of freshly picked strawberries from the garden and a bunch of red souvenir pencils with gold crowns at the top.
On my 2023 trip to London with Finnegan, I got to know the new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and his wife, Akshata Narayana Murty.
Akshata hosted me for a military families event at 10 Downing Street—a sign of our strong NATO alliance.
It was fun getting to know her. Akshata even came to a cycle class with me—SoulCycle diplomacy.
As Finnegan and I approached Westminster Abbey for the coronation, trumpets sounded out.
Heads of state and royalty from all over the globe were arriving to affirm the importance of leadership and unity and traditions.
Even countries without a monarchy had sent representatives, all of them seeming eager to participate in this moment honoring the sacred nature of leadership.
While the coronation was a grand event, it had a touch of melancholy because what occasioned it was Elizabeth’s passing.
Seeing the crowns placed on the heads of Charles and Camilla at Westminster Abbey, I felt that I was watching history being made.
The royal I’d known best up to that point was Prince Harry.
I’d liked him instantly when I met him in 2012 at a reception for wounded US and British troops.
He was so friendly and respectful to everyone there.
In 2014 in England and 2016 in Orlando, we’d had a good time together at the international Invictus Games, a competition he founded for wounded warriors, and he’d come to the White House when Barack was president.
I was thinking about Harry when I felt a tap on my arm.
“How can they call Pop old?” Finny said with regards to Joe. “Look at most of the leaders.” She gestured toward the leaders of Ireland, Italy, Finland, Sweden…
I gave her a little hug and straightened her fascinator.