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The secret Barack Obama kept from wife Michelle during Buckingham Palace visit

President Barack Obama kept it quiet when a mouse crept into the room at Buckingham Palace

royal family queen
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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Barack and Michelle Obama spent some time in the lap of luxury while visiting the Queen at Buckingham Palace back in May 2011, but it appears that the trip wasn't quite as wonderful as we (and Michelle) originally thought! According to a new memoir by President Obama's national security advisor Ben Rhodes, titled The World as it is: A Memoir of the Obama White House, it was revealed that there was a mouse in their suite.

royal family queen© Photo: Getty Images

Barack and Michelle at Buckingham Palace

According to Ben, the president was preparing his speech with a few aides while Michelle was getting ready for bed, and a butler told him: "'Mr. President, pardon me. There'’s a mouse,' to which Barack replied: 'Don't tell the First Lady,' to which the butler said, 'We'll try to catch it sir.'" Ben joked to the President that the monarchy was a "dying empire" to which the President responded: "No, they've still got a lot going on. Did you see the bling on the queen?"

READ: Why the Obamas will not attend Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding

obama queen© Photo: Getty Images

Barack spoke about how much he admired the Queen

In the book, which is available to buy in on Amazon for £16, Ben added that Barack was full of admiration for the Queen, writing that Barack said: "I really love the Queen. She's just like Toot, my grandmother. Courteous. Straightforward. All about what she thinks. She doesn't suffer fools." Later in 2016, Barack returned to the UK to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their two-year-old son, Prince George. The pictures of their meeting went viral at the time, showing the little Prince dressed in his pyjamas with a matching white dressing gown. Speaking about the historic meeting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner later that month, he said: "It's not just Congress. Even some foreign leaders they have been looking ahead, anticipating my departure. Last week Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bath robe. That was a slap in the face. A clear breach of protocol."

READ: Flashback Friday: Barack Obama celebrates becoming US President

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