Obamas Share Touching Farewell Message To Queen Elizabeth II Amid Funeral

Photo: Getty Images

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are reminiscing on their time spent with Queen Elizabeth ll as the state funeral is held for the late monarch.

In separate Instagram posts, the Obamas shared touching video messages on Monday (September 19) in remembrance of the Queen, who died earlier this month.

Michelle Obama recalled meeting Her Majesty for the first time back in April 2009, which marked the former first family's first overseas trip following the election.

"Barack had just been elected president and it was our very first trip overseas and I still remember how nervous I felt," Obama said during her two-minute video tribute.

"I'd never met royalty before and here I was meeting Her Majesty, perhaps the most well-known woman in the world, but I have to tell you, all of that disappeared the moment I met her," she continued. "She was welcoming. She was incredibly warm, kind, personable, funny. I liked her immediately."

The former first lady delved into a memory where she and Queen shared a laugh over having to wear high heels for an extended period of time.

"Later on that day, I found myself standing next to her again at a reception and the two of us looked down at our heels and I looked back over at her and then we just had a moment of recognition, both of us realizing that our feet were hurting, and I remember looking back at her, and then back around the room just thinking, when is all of this standing around with world leaders gonna finally wrap up?' and we both started laughing," Michelle Obama said in the video.

Former President Obama also shared his recollection of meeting the longest-reigning sovereign in British history.

"She reminded me very much of my grandmother, which surprised me, not just in appearance but also in matter, very gracious, but also no-nonsense, wry sense of humor," the former president said in his video post. "She could not have been more kind or thoughtful to me and Michelle."

He recalled the queen's "generosity" when his wife and two daughters, Malia and Sasha, visited England on a separate occasion.

"Buckingham Palace reached out and Her Majesty had invited Michelle and the two girls to tea. She had then offered the girls to drive in her golden carriage around the grounds of Buckingham Palace," Barack Obama said. "It was the sort of generosity and consideration that left a mark in my daughters' lives that's still there."

The Obamas met with the queen on numerous occasions during his time as president, per ABC News.

Following the queen's death, the pair released a statement on social media that mirrored the sentiments shared in their video messages.

"Like so many, Michelle and I are grateful to have witnessed Her Majesty’s dedicated leadership, and we are awed by her legacy of tireless, dignified public service," the statement reads in part. "Our thoughts are with her family and the people of the United Kingdom at this difficult time."

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