Queen Elizabeth II made fun of at least two US first ladies over the years, according to a bombshell new book.
The UK Monarch, who died in 2022, was a “skilled mimic” who reportedly made fun of Melania Trump by portraying her as “silent and remote” like the actress Greta Garbo in one of her famous roles, writes Susan Page in “The Queen and Her Presidents.”
“‘I want to be alone,’ she was said to have mischievously muttered, quoting Garbo’s signature line from 1932 movie “Grand Hotel.”
The Queen first met with President Donald Trump and his wife Melania during his first term at Windsor Castle in July 2018, then again during a formal state visit in June 2019. Trump has often expressed his admiration for the monarch.
She is also said to have made fun of President Ronald Reagan’s wife, Nancy Reagan.
During a California trip, the royal was “spotted doing an impression of the first lady, whose look of rapt adoration at her Ronnie was often mocked.”
Despite these mildly naughty imitations, the Queen was the model of decorum, socialising with the 14 US presidents she met over her long reign, from 33rd US president Harry Truman to the 46th president, Joe Biden.
The first President the Queen developed a personal relationship with was John F. Kennedy, as he was the first who was close to her in age.
After meeting, the two began exchanging letters which became “more frequent and more casual missives, more like the conversational rhythm of friends.”
So much so, the Queen extended an invitation to First Lady Jackie Kennedy to meet her for lunch in 1962, when she was in London on a private visit.
“The Queen followed up with a chatty handwritten letter to the President detailing what a nice time they had,” Page writes.
When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, the Queen was unable to attend the funeral as she was pregnant with Prince Edward. Prince Philip went instead and after the funeral, Jackie found the Duke of Edinburgh sprawled on the floor of the White House playing with the President’s then-three-year-old son, John.
The Queen also developed an “immediate” and “enduring” friendship with Reagan, strengthened by their mutual love of horse riding.
She was delighted when, during a 1983 visit, an unexpectedly free night arose, and Reagan’s staff suggested the royal couple might enjoy dining at the famed Trader Vic’s restaurant in San Francisco.
It was the first time she had eaten in a restaurant in seventeen years, and she imbibed on its trademark rum punch, cracked open a fortune cookie, and tucked the message into her handbag.
When Reagan died, the Queen penned a handwritten letter to Nancy and entrusted it to then-Prince Charles to deliver personally at the funeral. The former first lady kept it in a binder that she had filled with sympathy notes from foreign leaders.
President Trump attempted to get gossip from the Queen, asking her who her favorite US president was, a question she wisely declined to answer. He also asked her what she thought of her wayward grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan Markle, who relocated to California.
“I asked her about it constantly,” Trump has previously admitted, but unsurprisingly, the Queen did not share her feelings about the matter with him.
Trump went on to become the first US president received by King Charles III in Sept. 2025. In return Charles and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to the US from April 27 to 30.
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