Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, formally known as the Queen Mother, was the enduringly popular grande dame of the Royal Family, who became Britain’s most beloved symbol of courage and self-sacrifice during World War 2. In a life which spanned the 20th century, she presided over a period of change in Britain and helped sustain the monarchy through difficult times. Even after the death of her husband, King George VI, the Queen Mother continued her public duties in the UK and overseas.

She never remarried.

According to a 2010 report by the Daily Mirror, though, she did get a kiss from former US President Jimmy Carter.

President Carter only visited the Royal Family once during his presidency but, in that short time, he made a very strong impression.

In London for an economic summit in May, 1977, Queen Elizabeth II invited him to Buckingham Palace.

While meeting her and other members of the Royal Family, President Carter broke protocol and kissed the Queen’s Mother right smack on the lips.

His southern hospitality did not sit well with Elizabeth.

She said: “Nobody has done that since my husband died.”

The Queen Mother took an instant dislike to the former peanut farmer from Georgia.

According to the report, she wrote about the unpleasant encounter.

JUST IN: Royal paradox: How Queen’s coronation ‘sparked crisis’ in US

Evidently, she had seen President Carter leaning in for the kiss and had tried to dodge his lips.

She wrote: “I took a sharp step backwards – not quite far enough.”

While there are no obligatory ways to greet the Queen and the Royal Family, often a man bows his head or simply shakes hands.

The Queen Mother died in March 2002, six weeks after Princess Margaret.

The Queen lost the two people to whom she had been closest all her life in the same year.

DON’T MISS:
Queen’s humiliating snub to George W Bush exposed [INSIGHT]
Royal secrets: The Queen Mother’s political influence over George VI [ANALYSIS]
Queen’s shock reaction to French President’s snub revealed [REVEALED]

A period of ten days’ official mourning was announced by Buckingham Palace but just two days after her mother’s death, the Queen arrived at a private reception in Windsor.

A royal queryer who talked to the Queen at the event recalls his own astonishment that she was there so soon after her bereavement.

He told the Daily Mail: “But then I realised that she was doing her duty, as usual.

“It gave me a real feeling of her destiny – of how, in her position, the show must always go on.”

Source: Read Full Article