Brits have been saying "Long live the Queen!" for centuries. And at 94 years old, Queen
Elizabeth II has spent 67 years and counting, on the throne — the longest of any regal
ruler in English history. But while she represents the height of high society, to the delight
of fans everywhere, not every moment has been picture perfect.
"Oh, really. Please. Boom."
Who among us hasn't been at the grocery store and failed to realize that there was an actual,
in-person, celebrity in front of us in line? Go ahead and magnify that by infinity and
you might understand why the Queen of England didn't recognize the Queen of Pop when meeting
her in person at the Die Another Day movie premiere in 2002.
"Looks can be deceptive."
Yes, following the premiere, Her Majesty was introduced to Madonna — and had absolutely
no clue who she was. According to The Sun, when an aide told the Queen that Madonna had
recorded the theme song for the movie, Elizabeth responded with, quote, "Oh really, did you?"
For her part, Madonna could not stop giggling at the encounter.
Not recognizing an American pop star is one thing, but not recognizing a national comedic
treasure is quite another. The awkwardness of the movie premiere was amped up considerably
when the Queen turned to John Cleese, who played Q in Die Another Day, and asked,
"And what do you do?"
Awkward.
Unlike Madonna, 9-year-old Nathan Grant was absolutely terrified to meet the Queen of
England. At the time, Nathan was a student at London's Thomas Coram Foundation for Children,
according to Today, and was invited to attend Queen Elizabeth's visit for the opening of
a building that bears her name. The Queen made her way down the line, greeting all of
the attending families. But as she stopped to talk to Nathan and his parents, the child
dropped to the ground, and crawled as fast as he could toward an exit. Trying to smooth
things over, his mom joked,
"That's his version of a bow."
Of course, the Queen took it all in stride, and laughed along with the other families.
But Entertainment Tonight host Graeme O'Neal seemed especially entertained by Nathan's
antics, when he said,
"That's the greatest thing I've ever seen."
On the other end of the boy-meets-queen spectrum is David Beckham, who seems to have made the
monarch fangirl just a little bit. At the 2018 Queen's Young Leaders celebration, Queen
Elizabeth was on hand to honor those young people making real change in the world, according
to People. Also on hand were Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — and sports icon David
Beckham.
"So many of these young leaders are doing so much good around the world."
The toothy, tattooed footballer bowed his head and grinned at the Queen, upon their
meeting. The usually stoic and thin-mouthed monarch, however, greeted Beckham with one
of her largest smiles ever caught on camera. And while Queen Elizabeth didn't ask for a
selfie or for him to sign any part of her body, she clearly has a soft spot for the
hunky star's presence at the event every year.
Usually, when the band starts playing over your speech, that means it's time to wrap
it up. But Barack Obama didn't take this cue during a UK state dinner in 2011. According
to CNN, after Queen Elizabeth gave a rousing toast to the then-U.S. president, Obama took
the stage, raised a glass, and began by saying, quote, "To Her Majesty, the Queen!" The orchestra,
assuming this was all the president had to say, then started playing "God Save the Queen,"
five words into Obama's speech.
But Obama was undeterred, continuing to praise the relationship between the two nations;
he finished by turning to the monarch and again raising a glass, quote, "to the queen."
Exactly zero people followed the president into the awkward toast, instead standing respectfully
for the British national anthem. Obama remained silent for the rest of the song, then waited
for the queen to pick up her glass before finishing the toast.
Recognizing childhood snaps of yourself can sometimes be tough, and it's presumably even
tougher when you're decades past those baby pics. Plus, when it's not a picture you're
trying to recognize, but an artwork that we'd hesitate to call "life-like," it's probably
even more challenging. So we can forgive Queen Elizabeth for failing to recognize a painting
of herself during a 2015 official visit to Germany.
In all fairness, the art wasn't a current portrait, but rather a scene of a young Elizabeth
riding a horse with her father King George VI. According to an account in The Sun, the
Queen looked at the artistic tribute and said,
"That's a funny color for a horse. […] And that's supposed to be my father, is it?"
The former German Prime Minister asked if she recognized him, and she said no. Hey,
maybe she simply prefers a more realistic interpretation of herself!
"Oh, well, I'm glad to have had a chance to see it."
Ok, so maybe Queen Elizabeth wasn't wowed by the horse painting, but surely even the
Queen of England has to be impressed by a chair made up of swords from vanquished foes.
Well, it appears not. In true Elizabethan fashion, she appeared wholly unamused during
a 2014 visit to the Game of Thrones set in Northern Ireland. She gave the throne serious
side-eye, and politely turned down the invitation to have a seat as the ruler of the seven kingdoms.
"Leave it be guys. Does it matter?"
But the Queen's awkward refusal may have had to do with an actual rule about where she
plants her bum. According to the New York Daily News, the Queen of England isn't allowed
to sit on foreign thrones, even if said foreign nation is the made-up world of Westeros. Showrunner
David Benioff recalled on Late Night with Seth Meyers,
"This is an esoteric rule we didn't know about until that final moment."
Wardrobe malfunctions are apparently as much a part of being the Queen of England as state
dinners and tabloid headlines. In April 2011, Queen Elizabeth made a trip to the Royal Air
Force base at Anglesey to visit her grandson, Prince William. The prince was stationed there
as part of the search and rescue team, according to the Daily Mail.
Decked out in a cashmere coat, the queen stepped off her official transport at the base and
was immediately met with a massive gust of wind. Her matching Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat
nearly flew off her royal head when met with 50 mile an hour winds, forcing the Queen to
grab onto it, lest it awkwardly fly off into the English countryside. Fortunately, the
hat stayed on Queen Elizabeth's head, and the visit went off without another hitch.
Anyone who's ever bet on a horse to win and watched it finish third knows you reach a
point where you just don't care anymore. And we can only assume this was how Queen Elizabeth
felt during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2015, when her horse, Balmoral Gemini, finished
a disappointing third in the Highland Class, according to the Mirror. Given that the race
was held on the Queen's literal home turf at Windsor Home Park, she probably really
felt the burn.
"The Royal Windsor Horse Show was graced by the presence of Her Majesty The Queen."
To add insult to injury, after the loss, the Queen was then caught by a photographer with
her index finger seemingly up her nose. While to most of us, this might be an awkward picture
that gets sent to the family group text, when you're the Queen of England it ends up in
the Mirror with the headline "We are Snot Amused."
Imagine you and your teammates on your local hockey team stop to take a post-game selfie.
And when you look at your camera to decide which one to post, you notice a little old
lady in a blue hat with a massive grin staring right into the camera. Cute, right? And downright
life-changing if that little old lady is the Queen of England.
"So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise, they're quite important things."
Back in 2014, two members of the Australia women's national field hockey team posed for
a post-game victory selfie during the Commonwealth Games in Scotland, according to the National
Post. Jayde Taylor and Anna Flanagan immediately noticed the Queen and tweeted it out, saying,
"The Queen just photo-bombed our selfie!"
The snap was quickly retweeted thousands of times, as well as by the official Twitter
account of the British Monarchy.
Getting reprimanded by your grandma for improper manners is embarrassing. But it's especially
humiliating when she does it on a grand balcony in front of tens of thousands of loyal subjects
— and then your son effortlessly underscores the embarrassment. Just ask Prince William,
who, during the Trooping the Colour parade in 2016, leaned down to chat with his son,
Prince George, as the royal family watched from a Buckingham Palace balcony.
The Queen not-so-politely told William to stand up, which he did, but Prince George
— who wasn't even 3 years old at the time — offered a royal palm to the face, adding
insult to injury. Needless to say, the internet caught fire, and as Cosmo reported, the memes
were quick to follow.
"Granny, thank you for everything you've done for your family. We could not wish you a happier
birthday."
Though we've never known anyone to describe Queen Elizabeth as "cuddly," it's an unofficial
rule of the monarchy that no one touches the Queen, uninvited. Lucy Hume, director of professional
coaching company Debrett's, told Reuters that it's best not to initiate any physical contact
with a member of the royal family, and instead wait to see if they offer to put an arm around
you first. She said,
"Usually, wait and see what's expected or what's appropriate for the event."
But then-First Lady Michelle Obama apparently never got this helpful pointer. During her
first meeting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Michelle swapped some small talk with
the monarch, according to The Guardian. Then seeming both natural and completely out of
nowhere, she put her arm around the Queen like they'd known each other for years. The
Queen seemed a little startled at the surprise gesture, but put her arm around the First
Lady in return.
"That has been my experience. That kind of warmth, and graciousness and intelligence
and wit. I like her."
Despite Michelle Obama's brief breach of protocol, at least she didn't put her lips on the Queen
of England without asking. That slip-up goes to legendary actor Mickey Rooney, when he
met Queen Elizabeth during a 2007 U.S. tour. The Queen approached the actor, and he immediately
grabbed her hand and gave it a cordial kiss hello.
The Queen remained her stoic best, and continued chatting with the Golden Globe winner for
some time without a hint of hesitation. Sadly, Rooney passed away in 2014, but the moment
remained one of his most enduring off-camera exploits. Though he was one of the most accomplished
actors of the twentieth century, this brief, awkward moment with the Queen is one that
stands out for many.
"Sometimes she won't let you kiss her at all."
Have you ever been driving down the street, when an inconsiderate driver cuts you off,
then slams on the brakes while they figure out which way to go? If so, you probably unleashed
a bunch of words that would scandalize the Queen of England. So we are duly impressed
with how Queen Elizabeth held back when then-President Donald Trump pretty much did the exact same
thing during a trip to Windsor Castle.
"[Helicopter whirring] Sounds like President Trump."
Trump stood awkwardly at the front of the aisle until the Queen nudged him to start
walking. And then, for some unknown reason, Trump cut off the Queen, stopped dead in his
tracks, and forced the confused monarch to walk around him. They continued in silence
as "Anchors Aweigh!" played in the background. A palace guard eventually stepped in behind
them — possibly to ensure no further walking awkwardness took place.
The court jesters you've probably seen in cartoons and movies look like something that
just popped out of a Jack-in-the-box. But contemporary court jesters actually dress
in proper English suits — at least, when they're meeting the Queen. Sir Norman Wisdom
is an iconic British comedic actor and Court Jester, according to BBC News, and the most
famous resident of the Isle of Man. When Queen Elizabeth visited the island, Sir Norman took
the opportunity to get some quality face time.
He tried to get the Queen to sample some cheese, which she rejected with a curt, "Not now."
Then, as she walked away, Sir Norman touched her arm to get her attention, then grabbed
her hand and kept talking with no return of conversation. Eventually, a lady-in-waiting
arrived to break up the awkward encounter.
"He forgets that they are royalty, just, they're friends to him, so he just joins in the fun."
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