Elizabeth II was delighted: it became known what "non-royal" gift from Barack Obama impressed the monarch

In 2009, former US President Barack Obama presented Elizabeth II with an unusual gift that impressed the Queen of Great Britain. As the British tabloids recently reported, it was an Apple iPod with historical videos of her previous visits to America, dating back to the 1950s.

The gift also contained a recording of Barack's inaugural speech and his speech at the Democratic National Convention a year earlier, the Express writes, citing Barack Obama. The late Queen of Great Britain met with the then US President and First Lady Michelle Obama during the couple's visit to the royal residence in 2009.

The guests arrived in England for the G20 summit. It was on the occasion of the meeting that gifts were exchanged. Elizabeth II was familiar with the gadget: in 2005, at the suggestion of her son Prince Andrew, the Queen purchased a silver 6GB iPod. People close to the royal family claimed that at the time, Her Majesty liked to listen to light music, but did not like rap and pop. So the gift was to Elizabeth II's taste.

Barack Obama did not hide his excitement about meeting the Queen face to face. After the monarch's death, he told a story about his decision to give her an iPod. Obama said that world leaders always exchange gifts when they meet, and this time he wanted to give something really practical. The former president commented on the choice of the gift as follows:

"She loved the tunes from the British Broadway shows, and the [new] iPod had just come out. I thought, let's take the iPod and fill it with tunes from British shows."

After the meeting, British tabloids wrote about the inappropriateness of the gift, but Barack argued that Her Majesty often used the gadget. The monarch was "delighted," the media added.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Elizabeth II was Queen of the United Kingdom for 70 years until her death in September 2022. She received world leaders on state visits, where it was customary to exchange gifts. US presidents have frequently visited Buckingham Square, and Her Majesty hosted Donald Trump back in July 2019.

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