Jill Biden braves the rain with a see-through brolly when arriving at Number 10
The first lady of the United States got a taste of British weather as she was welcomed to Downing Street.
Jill Biden had no choice but to put down her umbrella as she posed with prime minister Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, in the rain.
President Joe Biden’s wife was accompanied by her granddaughter Finnegan Biden, 24, with the pair set to attend King Charles III’s coronation tomorrow.
Mrs Biden and Ms Murty were expected to hold private talks before watching a veterans’ boxing session in Downing Street.
The trio will visited the Charles Dickens Primary School in London to take part in a variety of coronation-themed activities with the students.
Mrs Biden told the children about her own career as a teacher, she is a professor at a US community college, and asked if they were enjoying their food.
Before getting up to leave, the First Lady, who is set to attend the Westminster Abbey event, told the pupils: ‘Nice to see you all, have fun tomorrow, I’ll be thinking about all of you.’
The pair later visited a Y6 music lesson where they listened to pupils use guitars, a cello and double bass to perform Lovely, a song by American artist Billie Eilish.
Mrs Biden will then attend a reception at Buckingham Palace, hosted by Charles.
She tweeted before setting off for her trip to the UK: ‘Headed to the UK for the Coronation of King Charles III – the first in 70 years!
‘It’s an honor to represent the United States for this historic moment and celebrate the special relationship between our countries.’
Mrs Biden met with health and wellness program called The Fighting Chance, which provides boxing training and employment support to former members of the military.
Although Mr Biden declined his invitation to attend the coronation, he congratulated Charles on his ascension to the throne during a phone call last month.
But Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher, said the president’s absence was a ‘knife in the back’.
He told Dan Wootton on GB News: ‘Joe Biden has knifed Britain in the back on multiple occasions and as you mentioned earlier, he started off his presidency as Barack Obama did previously, by throwing a bust of Winston Churchill out of the Oval Office.
‘So making this trip over to the UK – he couldn’t be bothered to do it – and I have to say this is another disappointment coming from the Biden White House.’
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