This week, the U.K. mourns the death of Queen Elizabeth II , who passed away last Thursday at the age of 96. Elizabeth served as Queen for 70 years, and is succeeded by her son, Charles III .
During her decades of rule, Elizabeth hadn’t been particularly outspoken on political matters. But she tended to express her thoughts in subtle, incredibly clever ways.
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For instance, when she met Donald Trump for the first time.
In 2018, Queen Elizabeth and former President Donald Trump met for the first time. Though the queen was outwardly polite as always, what she wore showed her distaste in her meeting with the then-president.
And it actually related back to a previous president.
During the visit, Elizabeth wore a 14-karat gold broach that was gifted to her by former president Barack Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama.
This statement was definitely a nod toward her own personal opinions.
While Trump’s visit with Her Majesty was far from smooth , the Queen actually had a good relationship with the Obamas, who had visited her numerous times during the then-president’s two terms in office.
This, of course, isn’t the first time she used subtlety in the face of a world leader.
In 1998, she hosted a visit with the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Abdullah. The Queen suggested they drive around the grounds of Balmoral.
Only, to the Crown Prince’s surprise, Elizabeth was the one driving.
Having been an Army driver during her wartime service, the Queen was pretty skilled behind the wheel. And as the Crown Prince came to learn, she could be pretty reckless.
In fact, she had been driving quite quickly.
Through an interpreter, Abdullah urged the Queen to pay attention to the road, and not talk so much. But while she drove them quickly around the grounds, Elizabeth didn’t lose her cool on the road.
This is especially poignant when remembering Saudi Arabian driving laws.
At the time (and for a good two decades afterward as well), women in Abdullah’s home country of Saudi Arabia weren’t allowed to drive . Being driven around by the Queen of England was likely a shock on many levels — and perhaps not such a subtle message after all.
And in recent years, Elizabeth has used other subtle hints to express thoughts and feelings.
In March of this year, Elizabeth hosted a visit with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. This was her first public engagement since contracting Covid-19.
The visit was definitely a positive one, but she was also standing in front of a certain set of flowers.
The flowers were blue and yellow, which happen to be the same colors as the Ukrainian flag. This visit happened just weeks after the war between Ukraine and Russia began.
She showed the Ukrainian colors once again during a different event.
In May, Elizabeth attended the opening of the Elizabeth line in London, all while wearing a yellow jacket and blue hat. This happened to coincide with Ukraine’s Eurovision victory.
