The difficulty with figures as famous as Michelle Obama or the Queen is that it’s hard to get a sense of who they really are.

They occupy a remote, almost abstract level of statesmanship that leaves little room for their characters to shine through.

We know what they do and stand for, but not what makes them tick on a personal level.

But now the former First Lady has shed light on her friendship with the monarch, offering a rare glimpse into a closely guarded world.

In a new interview with the Guardian to promote her book Becoming, Obama says that, from the beginning, she was drawn by the Queen’s “authenticity and matter-of-factness”.

“Even in our first meeting, I was able to talk about blessedly normal subjects with Queen Elizabeth, such as the fit of our shoes,” Obama reveals.

How the Queen and Michelle Obama bonded over shoes