U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday afternoon signed a dedication to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II in a book of condolences made available at the U.K. Embassy in Washington.
"We mourn for all of you. She was a great lady, I am delighted to have known her," Biden wrote in the note after signing the book of condolences, according to a White House statement.
The first lady, Jill Biden, has expressed to the British ambassador, Dame Karen Pierce, her sorrow at the death of the consort of the United Kingdom. "Our hearts go out to you," she said.
The British ambassador in Washington, for her part, has thanked the Biden's surprise visit to the Embassy to pay tribute to Elizabeth II.
"It is an honor that the President of the United States and the First Lady were the first to sign the book of condolences from Her Majesty the Queen. Thank you for your typically generous words and warm remembrances of Her Majesty," Pierce said on his Twitter account.
After the signing, the U.S. president spoke with the staff of the U.K. Embassy, to whom he reminded some of his personal anecdotes with the Queen of England.