Hillary Clinton remembers Queen Elizabeth II: ‘I admired her devotion to duty’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday remembered Queen Elizabeth II for her humanity and devotion to her role.

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Clinton recounted spending time with the monarch, who died last Thursday, during 1994 commemorations of the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

“It was just like being with a family that was having a good time together, despite the solemnity of the occasion,” said Clinton, who was first lady at the time.

“She was an engaging and lively conversationalist,” she observed. “She asked great questions. She was interested in what was going on in the United States, elsewhere in the world.”

British Ambassador to the U.S. Karen Pierce seconded those remarks in a separate interview.

“She was incredibly interested in American politics,” Pierce told CNN.

“She studied American history as a child,” the ambassador continued. “The master who taught her English constitutional history was actually an American history specialist, so he threw that in for good measure. She read the embassy’s cables. She would talk to me about American politics. And that’s an incredible thing, to be able to chat to the queen, who has seen it all, about what’s happening in America.”

Mourners on Sunday observed a solemn procession of the queen’s coffin from Balmoral Castle in Edinburgh, where she died. The coffin is set to be flown from Scotland to London on Tuesday.

Remembrances of the queen have noted the sense of duty she showed during her 70-year-long reign.

“In my encounters with her, I admired her devotion to duty and her sense of obligation to the people of her nation,” Clinton said.

“She was never wavering from what she said when she first became a very young queen until literally two days before she died,” she added.

The late queen appointed Liz Truss as the U.K.’s prime minister last Tuesday. While the monarchy has long lacked political power, it still plays a ceremonial role in many aspects of British life.

“Even her last meeting, she met with Liz Truss to ask her to form government three days before she died … fulfilling her commitment to this country that as long as she lived she would serve,” said U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. Jane Hartley.

“I find that so admirable. And I have just so much respect for her. It’s very inspiring,” she told “Fox News Sunday.”

President Biden on Sunday formally accepted an invitation for the queen’s funeral. First Lady Jill Biden will accompany him at the service scheduled for Sept. 19, according to the White House.

While commemorating the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Biden quoted the late queen.

“I remember a message sent to the American people from Queen Elizabeth. It was on September 11,” he said Sunday at the Pentagon. “Her ambassador read a prayer of service at St. Thomas Church in New York, where she poignantly reminded us, quote, ‘Grief is the price we pay for love.’”

With News Wire Services