Joe Biden once revealed his mother so disliked England that she chose to sleep on the floor rather than in a bed in which the Queen had previously slept, according to an autobiography written by a comedian.
Georgia Pritchett claims the US leader made the revelation when they met in the White House during his period as vice-president. Pritchett met him because she was conducting research for the hit comedy Veep, on which she had been a co-executive producer and joint writer. They were also making a film tie-in of the show.
Pritchett, who is British, records that her initial conversation with Biden was about Ukraine – from which he had just returned – but this was closed down by his minders.
She wrote: “He changed the subject to how much his mother hated the English. His parents were Irish and she had written several poems about her hatred of the English. He went off to find them and returned with hundreds of poems describing how God must smite the English and rain blood on our heads.”
He also recalled how his mother, Catherine Finnegan – known as Jean – visited the UK and spent a night in a hotel where, she was told, the Queen had once stayed.
“She was so appalled that she slept on the floor all night, rather than risk sleeping on a bed that the Queen had slept on,” Pritchett wrote, adding she personally admired anyone who allowed their principles to take precedence over a comfortable bed.
Biden’s strong Irish roots and sense of identity have never been a secret. Soon after his nomination as Democratic presidential contender he was accosted by a BBC reporter, Nick Bryant, requesting “a quick word for the BBC” as the Democrat veteran passed through a crowded room.
“The BBC?” Biden responded, before adding with a smile: “I’m Irish.”
Biden’s mother died in 2010, and has been widely regarded as an important influence in his life, living with her son after her husband died in 2002.
Most accounts explain her importance to his moral values, Catholicism and belief in family. At her funeral he said his mother had taught the family to “never be intimidated by power, wealth or station; that we did not have to accept social convention”.
Although Pritchett’s autobiography, My Mess is a Bit of a Life, has been in circulation for nearly a year, the Biden family references were recently spotted by the former No 10 press secretary to Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell.
• This article was amended on 11 February 2022. A reference to “the Queen of England” has been changed to “the Queen”.
