Joe Biden Was 'Wandering Around' During King Charles Meeting

King Charles III "had to really guide" Joe Biden on Monday as the U.S. president was "wandering around," according to the director of a British heritage foundation.

Biden met Charles at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, in England where the U.S. national anthem played and the pair inspected a guard of honor by the Welsh Guards.

However, some felt the president breached protocol with his tactile interactions with the king, placing a hand on his arm and back. Others said the king was happy with his guest's warmth. A royal source told Newsweek that people will have seen for themselves "the personal warmth between His Majesty and the President."

Nile Gardiner is director of the Heritage Foundation's Thatcher Center for Freedom, which focuses on promoting the legacy of freedom that former British Prime Minister Lady Thatcher championed, and strengthening the U.S.-U.K. "special relationship."

Gardiner told Newsweek: "Judging by the images from Windsor, it did appear that at times Biden almost didn't know where he was, and that's increasingly the case when he travels on the international stage. It's very hit or miss.

"It's not always clear that he's in complete control, and he seems to be sort of wandering around.

"When Biden was inspecting the British troops at Windsor, he seemed to be sort of wandering around, and Charles had to really guide Biden significantly," Gardiner added.

"Some of the footage was a bit odd really, and the whole visit just looked pointless. It doesn't seem to be a really invested visit. It hasn't been fully planned out.

"I'm also struck by the lack of attention there has been in the U.K. generally to the trip. Usually a visit by a U.S. president is a very big deal," Gardiner said. "This hasn't had the kind of high impact that you usually see with a presidential visit."

However, others felt Biden's visit went better, including royal biographer Robert Jobson, author of Our King: The Man and the Monarch Revealed. He wrote in the U.K. newspaper Daily Mail: "In the past, much would have been made of the touchy-feely President's eager hands of friendship.

"You can almost hear the indignant screams about breaches of protocol because Joe Biden touched the monarch's back or went first when inspecting the Guard of Honour—even though, as guest of honour, that's what he's supposed to do," Jobson added.

"This is a different time and a different monarch—and everyone was happy with the warmth and manner of the tactile greeting. Perhaps some commentators remain lost in Edwardian traditions.

"We would all be better off concentrating on the fact that King Charles is emerging as a key diplomatic asset for the United Kingdom," Jobson wrote.

Many U.S. presidents have been accused of breaching royal protocol on meeting Queen Elizabeth II in the past, including Donald Trump, who walked in front of her, and Michelle Obama, who hugged her.

Jobson wrote that "most of it was baloney" and added that Charles "is unfazed by physical contact and has even hugged random strangers in crowds."

That characterization does strike a different tone to Prince Harry's description in his book Spare of the moment Charles told him his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had died.

"Pa didn't hug me," the prince wrote. "He wasn't great at showing emotions under normal
circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis?

"But his hand did fall once more on my knee and he said: 'It's going to be OK.' That was quite a lot for him. Fatherly, hopeful, kind. And so very untrue," Harry added.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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