Friday 11 February 2022

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

 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 'hundreds' of 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.

Biden is reported to only be about five-eighths Irish, but is known for playing up his Irish heritage - despite the fact he has a sizable number of English ancestors too. 

He claims that he overcame a stutter that blighted his childhood by reciting Irish poetry to his bedroom mirror, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

And he once wrote a letter in which he described himself as a descendant of an 'Irish American family that imbued in him a sense of pride that spoke of both continents'.

The president has even quoted Irish poets in speeches, raising eyebrows with his reference to W B Yeats' famed final line in Easter 1916, which describes the aftermath of the Easter Rising staged in Ireland against British rule. 

During a visit to England last June, Biden told US troops: 'The world has changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty has been born.'

He is also related to Irish rugby player Rob Kearney and tweeted 'congratulations cousin' when Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time in Chicago in 2016.

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

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

US President Biden can trace his Irish roots back to both the Blewitts from Co Mayo and the Finnegans from Co Louth

US President Biden can trace his Irish roots back to both the Blewitts from Co Mayo and the Finnegans from Co Louth

Referring to the hotel stay, 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.

Biden is vocally proud of his Irish roots and once penned a letter reflecting on his heritage, which he can trace back to the Blewitts from Co Mayo and the Finnegans from Co Louth.

Addressing New York University's Glucksman Ireland House Annual Gala last year, he said: 'I write to you as a descendent of the Blewitts from County Mayo and the Finnegans of County Louth, of an Irish American family that imbued in me a sense of pride that spoke of both continents, a heart and soul that drew from old and new – a pride in community, faith, and above all, family.

'All these years later, I write to you from a White House designated by an Irish hand, in a nation where Irish blood was spilled in revolution, for independence, and in preservation of the union. 


'And the bridge between the two nations goes back and forth, growing wider and more necessary with every year that passes. Linked in memory and imagination and joined by our histories, we are nostalgic for the future. So it was then, so it is now.'

And footage of Joe Biden dismissing a BBC reporter by mentioning his Irish heritage was captured during the Democratic Primary in 2019. 

'Mr. Biden, a quick word for the BBC,' the correspondent for the British broadcaster could be heard asking in the clip. 

'The BBC? I'm Irish!' Biden declared, before walking out. 

The clip received renewed attention last year amid his reported row with Boris Johnson over the Northern Ireland peace deal.

Back in 1998, the US helped broker a peace deal known as the Good Friday Agreement that ended three decades of bloodshed between Catholics in Ireland and Protestants in Northern Ireland.  

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

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)

The revelations, made in Georgia Pritchett's autobiography My Mess is a Bit of a Life (Ms Pritchett pictured in October last year)


Last summer, it was reported that Biden ordered US officials to give Mr Johnson an extraordinary diplomatic rebuke for putting that peace process at risk over Brexit negotiations with the European Union. 

At the time, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters: 'President Biden has been crystal clear about his rock-solid belief in the Good Friday Agreement as the foundation for peaceful co-existence in Northern Ireland.

'Any steps that imperil it or undermine it would not be welcomed by the United States.' 

Biden, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who takes pride in his expertise in global affairs, was also a staunch opponent of Brexit. 

However, despite his mother's apparent hatred of the English, Biden once compared her to the Queen after meeting the Monarch 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. 

Biden's ancestral town in Ireland celebrate his victory
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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.

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