Joe Biden’s mother who was of Irish descent ‘hated’ England so much that she chose to sleep on the FLOOR rather than in a bed where the Queen once stayed, new book reveals
- Georgia Pritchett was invited to meet Biden, then vice president, at White House
- She recalled him discussing how his mother, known as Jean, ‘hated the English’
- He told screenwriter about the time she visited a hotel where Queen once stayed
- Ms Pritchett wrote in book: ‘She was so appalled she slept on the floor all night’
Joe Biden’s mother hated England so much that she chose to sleep on the floor rather than in a bed where the Queen once stayed, according to a book.
Georgia Pritchett was invited to meet Biden, then vice president, at the White House while carrying out research for the American comedy series Veep.
She recalled in her autobiography that Biden initially spoke about Ukraine, from where he had just returned, but was advised to switch topics.
Noting that the screenwriter was British, he discussed how much his mother Catherine Finnegan, known as Jean, ‘hated the English’, telling her she had written several poems on the matter.
Ms Pritchett wrote: ‘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 went on to recollect the time his mother, who was of Irish descent, travelled to the UK and spent a night in a hotel where she was told the Queen had once visited.
Joe Biden discussed how much his mother Catherine Finnegan (both pictured in 2008), known as Jean, ‘hated the English’, telling a British screenwriter she had written several poems on the matter, according to a book
Ms Pritchett wrote: ‘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.’
She added: ‘I admire anyone whose principles come between them and a comfy bed.’
The revelations, made in Ms Pritchett’s autobiography My Mess is a Bit of a Life, were recently noted by Tony Blair’s former press secretary Alastair Campbell.
Despite her apparent hatred of the English, Biden once compared his mother to the Queen after meeting her at Windsor Castle in June last year.
The president said before boarding Air Force One: ‘I don’t think [the Queen] would be insulted but she reminded me of my mother, the look of her and just the generosity.’
Jean Biden was a devout Catholic mother-of-four who raised the future president in Pennsylvania and helped him overcome his childhood stutter.
She died in 2010, aged 92, but is still frequently quoted by the president in his political speeches.
She had a ‘formidable’ influence on the president’s life, joining him on the campaign trail as he sought election to the Senate and supporting him after his first wife and daughter died in a car crash.
Despite her apparent hatred of the English, Biden once compared his mother to the Queen after meeting her at Windsor Castle (pictured) in June last year
The revelations, made in Georgia Pritchett’s autobiography My Mess is a Bit of a Life (Ms Pritchett pictured in October last year)
Biden has said his mother was always quick to remind him his success was ‘because of others’ and taught him to set his own standards ‘based on character alone.’
When Biden was mocked at school for stuttering, his mother told the nun: ‘If you ever speak to my son like that again, I’ll come back and rip that bonnet off your head’, according to his autobiography.
She joined him on the campaign trail when he ran for Senate, despite believing he would ruin his reputation as a lawyer by running for election, and stood next to him when he was Barack Obama’s running mate.
Jean lived out her final days in a converted garage on the Biden property after she asked her son to sell her house and build her an apartment when her husband died in 2002.
Devout Catholic mother-of-four who raised future President in Pennsylvania
Jean Biden, a devout Catholic mother, and her husband Joe Biden Senior had four children – the president is the eldest.
The family lived in in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but moved to Wilmington, where there were more opportunities, and Biden Snr became a used-car salesman.
Biden once recalled how his mother fashioned a pair of cufflinks from nuts and bolts after she could not find a pair for him to wear to an eighth-grade dance.
‘Now look Joey,’ she told him. ‘If anybody says anything to you about these nuts and bolts, you just look them right in the eye and say “Don’t you have a pair of these?”‘
Jean Biden (right) was an influential presence in her son’s life and the president often quotes her words and actions in his political speeches (pictured here in 2007)
Jean Biden joined her son on the campaign trail when he ran for Senate, despite believing he was ruin his reputation as a lawyer by running for election (pictured, addressing followers after he was re-elected in 1978)
Accepting the nomination for Vice-President in 2008, Biden paid tribute to his mother, saying. ‘My mother’s creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone’s equal, and everyone is equal to you.’
Speaking at her Catholic funeral mass in January 2010, President Biden said she was ‘somewhat selfishly viewed by our family as a remarkable woman.
‘She was a quintessential combination of both optimism and pragmatism. Heroic in her ideals, but solid in her expectations.’
He added his mother had taught the family to ‘never be intimidated by power, wealth or station; that we did not have to accept social convention,
‘We could set our own standard, one that was based on character alone… She believed in us, so we believed in ourselves. How could we do less?’
Biden added his mother held her children to what he called the ‘Biden standard.’
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