Barack and Michelle Obama's Daughters Once Scored a Royal Treat From the Late Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II was fond of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. During his time in the White House, the late Her Highness met with the first-ever black president of America, along with his wife Michelle, and their two daughters Malia and Sasha Obama. Though the meeting was indeed historic, the girls especially received royal treatment by the Queen. 

Michelle narrated their meeting with the royalty during a panel at the MUSE event in 2018, recalling how the late queen allowed her daughters to have a sneak-peak of the room in Buckingham Palace that is literally dripping with gold. "Everything is gold. We had seen the gold room — there's a room where they keep all the gold. It was Sasha's birthday and the Queen opened the house and she let us see that room," as per Hello! Magazine. It turned out, this wasn't the only time that the Obama family experienced the late queen's generosity. During Obama's second year of presidency, his girls visited Buckingham Palace for an unofficial trip after the queen found out Malia and Sasha were in town along with their grandmother Marian Robinson and invited them over and even offered her golden carriage ride to the daughters of Obama. 

The now-63-year-old detailed, "The girls and my mother-in-law came through London ...  And there was no expectation that they're going to be seeing her [but] Buckingham Palace reached out and she [Elizabeth] decided to invite them over for tea." However, the queen's hospitality didn't just end with a quintessential English breakfast. Instead, she helped Malia and Sasha fulfill everyone's royal dream of riding in her golden carriage.

"And then she insists that the girls take her golden carriage, which I guess she uses for jubilees, on [a] long a drive through the Palace grounds," Obama revealed via Inc. and hailed Her Highness for not doing it to gain the public attention. "None of this was ever reported. It was just something that she did quietly," referring to her selfless act of love and generosity towards his family. 

The British Monarchy hosted several world leaders throughout her 70-year reign, however, Obama towered for Elizabeth above everyone else. She first hosted him in 2009 for a state visit and a former employee told royal author Tom Quinn that the two instantly bonded and developed a warm connection. And their relationship grew deeper with time. 

A palace insider told Quinn for his book, Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle, "The Queen has a soft spot for Americans after meeting Barack Obama who she completely fell in love with – so much so that she has frequently asked her courtiers if they could arrange for him to come to Britain now he is no longer president," as per Express.

After Queen Elizabeth passed away in September 2022, Obama and Michelle paid heartfelt tribute to Her Highness. He posted a video on his X, formerly Twitter account, sharing fond memories of the royal and praised, "When we were just beginning to navigate life as President and First Lady, she welcomed us to the world stage with extraordinary generosity."