See all the records Queen Elizabeth broke in 70 years on the throne 1:34
(CNN) --
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that he plans to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, a monarch he remembers as a "great lady."
"Yes," Biden told reporters Friday when asked if he planned to attend the funeral, details of which have not been announced by Buckingham Palace.
"I don't know what the details are yet, but I'll go," Biden said in Ohio, where he was traveling for the dedication of a computer chip factory.
Earlier Friday, Britain's new King Charles III said during a televised address that services for his late mother would be held later this month.
"In just over a week we will come together as a nation, as a British Commonwealth and, indeed, as a global community, to lay my beloved mother to rest," Charles said in the speech, his first as king.
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Biden told reporters in Ohio that he had not yet spoken to Charles after the Queen's death.
"I know it.
I have not talked with him.
I haven't called him yet," Biden said.
On Friday, White House officials are working on initial preparations for US President Joe Biden to travel to London and attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, but plan to make the announcement after Buckingham Palace make its plans known, according to people familiar with the matter.
Joe Biden: Biden first met the queen as a young senator in 1982. He returned nearly 40 years later, following his first G7 summit as president.
The president will travel accompanied by an official delegation.
Biden remembered the queen on Thursday as a "great lady" who "defined an era."
“We are delighted to have met her,” Biden told staff at the British embassy in Washington after signing a book of condolences.
American flags at the White House, other federal buildings, military installations and foreign embassies remained at half-staff Friday after Biden ordered them lowered "until the day of internment."
In a statement issued with his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, the president called the Queen "a constant presence and source of comfort and pride to generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her."
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As a young senator, Biden met the Queen in 1982. They met again last year, when she traveled to the Group of 7 summit in Cornwall.
Later, he invited the Bidens to tea at Windsor Castle, where he asked the president about Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, two authoritarians who have caused tensions through military aggression.
Biden was effusive afterward in describing their interaction.
"I don't think she was insulted, but she reminded me of my mother, her looks and her generosity," Biden said.
"She's extremely nice, that's not surprising, but we had a great conversation."
The White House has refused to expand on Biden's plans to attend the queen's funeral, which is expected in the coming weeks.
“There is a process, there is a protocol here, an official protocol through which leaders are invited, so we are not going to preempt that protocol,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard the Air Force One on Friday.
Pressed again, she reiterated that the White House will follow protocol, but added that the queen's loss "will be felt by people all over the world," calling her a "constant presence."
"Our nations and people have a strong bond and I think I speak for the country when I say our thoughts are with the people of the UK," said Jean-Pierre.
The last time a British monarch died, the American president did not attend the funeral.
President Harry S. Truman sent his Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, to attend George VI's funeral in 1952.
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At past high-profile funerals, the delegation has included former US presidents. For example, when John Paul II died, President George W. Bush attended with his father, President George HW Bush, and former President Bill Clinton.
President Barack Obama included George W. Bush, Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter in the official delegation to Nelson Mandela's funeral.
Bush traveled with him to South Africa aboard Air Force One, along with Hillary Clinton.
Former presidents do not expect to receive individual funeral invitations from Buckingham Palace, according to two people familiar with the protocol, with the expectation that the United States will receive an official invitation through the White House.
This means that Biden will ultimately decide who will join his official delegation to funeral ceremonies in the UK.
No decisions will be made until a formal invitation is made from the palace, a White House official said, even as preliminary discussions are already taking place.
The question is how former President Donald Trump fits into the picture.
While he remembered the queen this week as a "great and beautiful lady," Trump has often been intentionally absent, or deliberately excluded, from meetings of the so-called Presidents' Club.
Queen Elizabeth II's funeral will be the ultimate test of how this delicate matter of diplomacy should be handled.
Queen isabel II
