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NN S THE CROONERSA FO DA A D J U LY A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 1 0 7 bers. We were met by uniformed British offi- cials as we entered the Palace and taken to a separate room and briefed about the upcom- ing event. As you would expect Buckingham Palace is a very nice place The Queen entered a brief statement of citation was read and she placed medals on the three of us. An informal reception followed. Mitchellwasinformedthatasaforeigner he would not be referred to as Sir George. As it was explained to me if I chose to give up my American citizenship and become a British subject I could use the term Sir. I declined the offer Actually he reminisced I already knew the Queen. In 1992 when she came to address a joint session of Congress as Senate Majority Leader I hosted a luncheon in the Capitol. I sat with her at lunch and we had a long conversation. So when I got to Buckingham Palace we enjoyed quite a nice talk. Not surprisingly after a lifetime of doing such things shes good at person- al conversation. It was my sisters birthday and the Queen was very nice about acknowledging that. To this day my sisterwho has stopped recognizing her birthdays due to advancing agerefers to that last one which she cele- brated with the Queen of England O n a more somber note Mitchell re- members It was a nice gesture by the British government but it turned politically awkward. By sheer co- incidence on the very day indeed at the very time we were in Buckingham Palace receiving these awards the Northern Ire- land Assembly which had been formed as a result of the peace agreement collapsed. We were scheduled for a celebratory din- ner but I couldnt go because I received calls from the Prime Ministers of Ireland and the United Kingdom asking me to re- turn to Northern Ireland to try to put the process back on track. I spent the whole day and evening on the phone with Brit- ish and Northern Irish officials. I ended up returning to Northern Ireland for sever- al more months and eventually succeed- ed in putting it back together. It was a very difficult period with horrific incidents of violence. In the end the agreement was worked out and continues today. The year following Senator Mitchells in- vestiture by the Queen President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Free- dom Americas highest civilian honor. I