London - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was "delighted" to have been received by Queen Elizabeth II during a flying visit to London Thursday.

Merkel said she had told the British monarch during their private meeting in Buckingham Palace that Germany had "every interest in seeing the UK as a close partner and friend."

She had also made clear that she was "delighted that the UK was part and parcel of the EU," Merkel told journalists after the audience.

But the German leader kept tight-lipped about what the queen, 82, told her during the two women's encounter, saying with a smile that she would "not give a long statement" on what had been discussed. dpa