Mandela and Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a 'warm friendship,' secretary recalls

FILE PHOTO: South African President Nelson Mandela is accompanied by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in a carriage ride to a Buckingham Palace lunch during his state visit, in London, Britain July 9, 1996. REUTERS/Simon Kreitem

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth enjoyed a "warm friendship" with South Africa's President Nelson Mandela, who once joked about her weight on a visit to Buckingham Palace - an unheard of liberty attesting to the strong bond between the freedom fighter and the monarch, Mandela's private secretary said.

Mandela, who once sat in the same horse-drawn royal carriage with the queen passing through the streets of London, wore a suit during his first visit to Buckingham Palace in 1995, before adopting his signature bright African-inspired shirts that helped defy the rigid royal strictures reserved for other dignitaries when meeting the Queen.