This past weekend, the United Kingdom celebrated the platinum jubilee of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II – the first British Monarch to mark 70 years of service. Over the years, The Queen developed a friendship with Billy Graham.

Mr. Graham first met Queen Elizabeth II in 1955. Mr. Graham and his wife, Ruth, were in Glasgow for a six-week Crusade and the BBC broadcast his message across the nation. That day, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were amongst the millions who tuned in to listen to the message.

Not long after that broadcast, Mr. Graham received a special note from Buckingham Palace inviting him to preach at Windsor Castle, then attend a lunch with the Queen. It was the start of a newfound friendship that would take place over many years. They met a total of 12 times over the next three decades. Not only did they spend time together in the UK, they also visited each other at the White House and in California.

Throughout the decades, the Queen reached out to Billy Graham for spiritual guidance. In his autobiography, Just As I am, Mr. Graham reflected on one such occasion:

“I always found her very interested in the Bible and its message. After preaching at Windsor one Sunday, I was sitting next to the Queen at lunch. I told her I had been undecided until the last minute about my choice of sermon and had almost preached on the healing of the crippled man in John 5. Her eyes sparkled and she bubbled over with enthusiasm, as she could do on occasion. ‘I wish you had!’ she exclaimed. ‘That’s my favorite story.’”

Even with very different backgrounds and situated thousands of miles apart, Queen Elizabeth became a dear friend of Mr. Graham’s – connected by their hearts to God.

“Her official position has prevented her from openly endorsing our Crusade meetings. But by welcoming us and having me preach on several occasions to the royal family at Windsor and Sandringham, she has gone out of her way to be quietly supportive of our mission.”

To learn more of the unique friendship between The Queen and Billy Graham and hear more memories, visit: BillyGraham.org/QueenElizabeth.