President Joe Biden departed London’s Stansted Airport en route to Washington, just hours after he joined myriad heads of state and government at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Mr Biden, accompanied first lady Jill Biden, boarded Air Force One for the flight to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with the president’s plane taking off at 9.30 am ET (2.30 pm local time) on Monday. His departure from London came roughly two and a half hours after the end of the late Queen’s funeral service.
The president’s visit to London lasted just under two days. He arrived late Saturday aboard the presidential aircraft, and on Sunday he signed the official condolence book at Lancaster House. He had been set to meet with Prime Minister Liz Truss during his time there but the bilateral meeting was scrapped and rescheduled for later this week when both Mr Biden and Ms Truss are scheduled to be in New York for the UN General Assembly.
Speaking just after he signed the book, Mr Biden said his impression of the late Queen was “the same in person ... as her image: decent, honorable, and all about service”.
“To all the people of England, all the people of the United Kingdom, our hearts go out to you,” he said. “And you were fortunate to have had her for 70 years. We all were. The world is better for her”.
