Apparently First Lady Michelle Obama had the Brits atwitter as she put a hand on Queen Elizabeth's back at a reception at Buckingham Palace - a big no-no, touching the Queen.
Thankfully, Mrs. Obama didn't land in the Tower of London for this "offense" and will be able to continue the charm offensive throughout Europe.
The rules are set in stone, and so the eagerly watching British media sputtered when the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, briefly put her hand on the back of Queen Elizabeth II as the two chatted at a reception. Etiquette is quite stern about this ("Whatever you do, don't touch the Queen!"). In 2007 John Howard, then Prime Minister of Australia, got plenty of criticism for apparently putting his arm around the Queen to direct her through a crowd. He denied actually touching her, but photographs suggest that he came quite close. (Another former Australian Prime Minister did put his hand on the Queen in a similar circumstance and was later branded "the Lizard of Oz.")
Yes and we have a rule set in stone as well; if you touch an American expect to be touched back... and you probably won't like it.
Posted by: Mitur Binesderti | April 02, 2009 at 09:20 AM
Ha ha ha ha ha! I had a good laugh over this one. You'd think in this day and age that people would be over the silly "untouchability" of a member of "royalty". They are, after all, just people like all the rest of us.
Who knows, maybe the Queen actually enjoyed being treated as a real, live person for a change.
Perhaps, because of this gesture, the future kings and queens of England will be a little more earth-based in their interactions with we mere mortals. LOL!
Posted by: Jonathan | April 02, 2009 at 10:26 AM