>> TODAY, AFTER PRESIDENT
BIDENS NEWS CONFERENCE, HE AND
THE FIRST LADY WILL MEET QUEEN
ELIZABETH AT WINDSOR CASTLE.
AFTER NEARLY 70 YEARS ON THE
THRONE BIDEN WILL BE THE 13TH
PRESIDENT SHE WILL MEET,
STARTING WITH HARRY TRUMAN,
WHEN SHE WAS MERELY A PRINCESS.
SHES MET EVERY U.S. LEADER
SINCE WITH, THE EXCEPTION OF
LYNDON JOHNSON.
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME
BIDEN WILL BE SPEAKING WITH THE
QUEEN.
HE BRIEFLY MET HER BACK IN 1982
WHEN HE WAS A SECOND TERM
SECOND UTTER.
JOINING ME NOW, MSNBC ROYAL
CONTRIBUTOR AND BRITISH
HISTORIAN, ANDREW ROBERTS.
THE LIFE FROM JUST OUTSIDE
BUCKINGHAM PALACE.
GREAT TO SEE YOU.
WERE GOING TO GET SOME GOOD
VISUALS OUT OF THIS.
IS THIS JUST TEA?
OR IS THERE SOMETHING MORE
SIGNIFICANT HERE?
IS QUEEN ELIZABETH MAY BE A NOT
SO SECRET DIPLOMATIC ASSET?
>> NOT SO SECRET, NO.
SHES AN ESSENTIAL ASPECT OF
WHAT WE CALL A SOFT POWER IN
THIS COUNTRY.
PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE THEIR
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN WITH HER.
THERES GOING TO BE A PHOTO
SHOOT WITH THE BIDENS AND THE
QUEEN LATER ON TODAY.
THOSE SHOTS OF HER INSPECTING
THE GUARD WITH THE PRESIDENT
AND SO ON, WILL BE BEAMED
AROUND THE WORLD.
>> THIS HAS BEEN, TO SAY THE
LEAST ARE DIFFICULT HERE FOR
THE QUEEN.
OF COURSE, THE LOSS OF HER
BELOVED HUSBAND.
THE TENSIONS WITH HER GRANDSON,
HARRY, AND MEGHAN MARKLE.
INCLUDING THOSE CHARGES OF
RACISM IN THE ROYAL FAMILY.
JOE BIDEN IS KNOWN FOR MAKING
PERSONAL COLLECTIONS.
FOR EMPATHY, HE OF COURSE LOST
HIS WIFE, A DAUGHTER AND SON.
TAKE US INSIDE.
DO YOU THINK THAT THIS MIGHT
POTENTIALLY BE A LITTLE
DIFFERENT THAN OTHER MEETINGS
THAT SHES HAD WITH OTHER
PRESIDENTS?
MAYBE MORE PERSONAL ARE NOT
LIKELY?
>> NOW THAT LIKELY.
SHES A CONSUMMATE
PROFESSIONAL.
SHE WILL TALK ABOUT THE THINGS
THAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON.
BUT SHE WONT GET PERSONAL
UNLESS HE STARTS THAT.
THERE ARE VARIOUS RULES AROUND
WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT TO THE
QUEEN.
YOU DONT ASK HER DIRECT
QUESTIONS, FOR EXAMPLE.
AND HES, AS YOU SAY, SOMEBODY
WHO UNDERSTANDS PROTOCOL.
>> THERE ARE ALSO AS I
UNDERSTAND, YOURE NOT SUPPOSED
TO TOUCH THE QUEEN.
MUCH WAS MADE OF THE FACT THAT
MICHELLE OBAMA PUT HER ARM
AROUND HER.
AND THE QUEEN RECIPROCATED.
IN FACT, MICHELLE OBAMA WROTE
ABOUT THAT IN HER
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
BUT IS THAT A REAL RULE?
DONT TOUCH THE QUEEN?
>> YES, ITS AN ABSOLUTE RULE.
AS IS DONT STAND UP WHEN
YOURE EATING.
UNLESS SHE HAS STOOD UP FIRST.
YOU DONT, AS I SAY, ASK HER
QUESTIONS.
CALL HER YOUR MAJESTY THE FIRST
TIME YOU MEET.
HER AFTER THAT, MEN.
THERE ARE LOTS OF RULES.
BUT FRANKLY THE QUEEN SAID
LATER THAT, AT LEAST PRIVATELY
LET IT BE NO LATER, THAT SHE
DIDNT MIND WHILE MICHELLE
OBAMA HAD DONE.
THAT ACTUALLY, IT WAS A
PERFECTLY REASONABLE THAT
GESTURE.
I DONT THINK SHES EXPECTING
IT FOR MRS. BIDEN, SHOULD WE
PUT IT LIKE.
THAT >> THE QUEEN HAS HAD, OF
COURSE, MANY MEMORABLE MEETINGS
WITH AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.
SHE DANCE WITH PRESIDENT GERALD
FORD.
SHE TRULY TRADED JOKES WITH
PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH.
AND OF COURSE TRUMP, FAMOUSLY
FULL POD WHEN HE WALKED IN
FRONT OF THE QUEEN.
ALL PART OF HER EXTRAORDINARY
WINDOW AND HISTORY OVER NEARLY
A CENTURY.
CAN YOU HELP US PUT THIS PERIOD
IN SOME HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE?
I GUESS IS THE QUEEN ELIZABETH,
PRESIDENT BIDEN BORIS JOHNSON, COVID BREXIT ERA.
COVID BREXIT ERA.
Bring Out the Bold
>> YES, THATS RIGHT.
THIS IS VERY MUCH A POST BREXIT
ERA.
ITS ONE WHERE BRITAIN WANTS TO
REJECT PROJECT A POSITIVE IMAGE
FOR THE WORLD ABOUT OUR
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE REST OF
THE WORLD.
AND HOW BETTER TO DO THAT AND
HAVE HER MAJESTY, THE QUEEN,
WHO AS YOU MENTION, HAS KNOWN
EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE HARRY
TRUMAN.
AS OUR SOFT POWER AMBASSADOR TO
THE WORLD.