The touching gift from Obama that moved the Queen to tears
Queen Elizabeth was moved to tears by a touching gift from then-President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, a former staffer has revealed.
According to Capricia Penavic Marshall, the then chief of protocol for the United States, the 94-year-old British monarch was overwhelmed when presented with a leather-bound collection of memorabilia about her late father, King George VI.
The heartwarming gift included invitations and notes from King George’s final visit to America in 1939 and was given by the Obamas at a lunch in 2011.
“We wanted to make sure that what we were furthering this special relationship with the UK and particularly with Her Majesty,” Capricia told People magazine.
“President and Mrs Obama were so, so very fond of her. In doing our research, we learned that [Queen Elizabeth] had a cherished relationship with her father, and she collected anything and everything that she could about him...
“When she walked over and she's flipping and looking through the pages, I'm looking at her and I'm like, ‘Oh, goodness, I hope that she likes it.’
“And I want to say that I saw a little glisten of a tear in her eye after she paged through it a bit. She looked to the president said, ‘Thank you so very much for this.’”
The former president and first lady also gave the Queen a green floral brooch – made of 14-karat yellow gold, diamonds and moss agate – which is said the couple chose themselves from Washington D.C.’s Tiny Jewel Box store.
“I'd like to say that she was proud to wear a piece of a presidential gift and was displaying the unity between the two nations,” Capricia said.
“I think that she has the capacity to always lift the message up right now and to create those stronger bounds. But she herself is the only one who will really know.”
The brooch – which has been named “the American State Visit Brooch” – was worn by the Queen when President Donald Trump visited the UK in 2018.