Could the Queen improve prospects for a trade deal with the US?

She may have met more presidents than you can shake a stick at, but what are the chances of Her Majesty charming Joe Biden on his upcoming visit?

Less than impressed: The Queen has got on well with past presidents, though with some more than others (Reuters)

It’s become something of an online parlour game, but it’s looking like the Queen may have met more US presidents than anyone else alive – with the possible exception of Henry Kissinger, who, to be fair, knew some of them rather better than most. Yet, on occasion, all the banquets and all the speeches and all the thoughtful gifts are to no avail.

Thus it transpired that, when Theresa May organised her not-quite-state visit for Donald Trump in 2018, and the 45th president shipped over most of his clan to take selfies and join in with the festivities, the desperately needed UK-US free trade still didn’t materialise. All the fine British lamb served up to President Trump on his last visit to London in December 2019 died in vain – strict US trade rules remained in place until and beyond Trump’s momentous last days in office. No last-gasp quickie trade treaty came through, and no such morsels of British lamb will melt in American mouths for the foreseeable future.

No doubt Boris Johnson is realistic enough to know that however nice Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales are to President Biden, the politicians in Brussels and Dublin will be more influential in framing whatever trade arrangement (if any) Britain is able to agree with his administration. Biden seems in any case disinclined to do Johnson any favours. And she might be Queen by the grace of god, but Elizabeth II doesn’t do miracles. More poignantly, the visit of President Biden will be her first without Prince Philip.