Queen Elizabeth may be one of the most famous people on the planet, but that doesn't mean
she can do anything she likes. In fact, her lofty position means there's a lot she can't
get away with. Here are the things Queen Elizabeth has never been allowed to do.
In the UK, all citizens have the right to express their political opinions – or almost
all of them, at least. As it turns out, Queen Elizabeth is expected to remain strictly neutral
with respect to political matters. This also means that she can't vote or stand for election.
Usually, the Queen does a pretty good job of keeping her political views private. But
just because she's not allowed to voice them publicly doesn't means he doesn't have them,
and she has actually broken this rule on a few rare occasions. For instance, back in
1976, she let slip her opinions on American independence, allegedly saying:
"We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right
time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep."
In another instance, the Queen made a thinly veiled political comment about an impending
referendum on Scottish independence, saying:
"Well, I hope people will think very carefully about the future."
Most recently, however, she attempted to encourage potential doubters into taking a vaccination
for COVID-19. Having recently taking the vaccine herself, the Queen said:
"It is obviously difficult for people if they've never had a vaccine, cause they ought to think
about other people rather than themselves."
It may seem strange, but members of the royal family - including Queen Elizabeth - aren't
allowed to be touched by the so-called "common folk." Indeed, physical contact is one of
the great taboos surrounding the British monarch, and initiating it with one of them is generally
seen as a huge faux pas.
Still, this rule doesn't mean that Queen Elizabeth has literally never touched anyone from outside
of her family. Sometimes, she has even welcomed contact with other people in public. For instance,
she was once caught on camera with her arm around Michelle Obama. Obama later recalled
the moment in her memoir Becoming, writing that she never realized the touch would be
such a big deal. She said:
"What is true among world leaders is that there are people who handle protocol, and
usually the people they’re representing don’t want all that protocol. So you wonder,
well, who are you doing this for? Because they don’t want it, we don’t want it.
But it’s just the way things are."
For people, dinner parties are a chance to sit back, catch up with friends, and enjoy
a little good food. For Queen Elizabeth, however, dinner parties have never been that relaxed.
She's certainly never had the freedom to choose her conversation partner at formal dinners.
The rule is that Queen Elizabeth begins dinner speaking to the person on her right, and then
switches to the person on her left. This is a pretty strict rule, too, as Formula 1 star
Lewis Hamilton once discovered the hard way during a dinner at the palace.
"So I sat down, and she was to my right, and I started to talk to her, and she was like,
'You speak that way first, and I'll speak this way, and I'll come back to you.'"
There's no doubt about it - Queen Elizabeth is about as much a celebrity as you can possibly
get! Unlike other celebrities, however, the Queen has never been allowed to sign her autograph.
In fact, the entire royal family is banned from signing their names for fans in case
their signature is forged later on.
Now, there have been a few rare instances in which other royals have broken this rule,
but don't expect to see that kind of rebellion from the Queen anytime soon. By the sound
of things, Queen Elizabeth rarely signs her own name, period. In 2020, an old 1954 Christmas
card from the Queen and her husband Prince Philip was sold at a staggering £4,500, simply
because Queen Elizabeth's signature is so rarely seen.
The joy of choosing a baby name is one of the most fun parts about bringing a child
into the world. Sadly, Queen Elizabeth has never had the freedom to name her children
like most people have. The Queen is mother to four children - Charles, Anne, Andrew,
and Edward - and while she probably had some say in her children's names, there are a number
of traditions and restrictions that likely guided her decisions.
Indeed, royal baby names are a pretty serious business; they have to both acknowledge history
by paying respects to relatives, while also being fashionable. The complexities of naming
a royal baby don't stop with the first name, either, as most royal tots end up with a number
of middle names, each paying homage to various relatives. For instance, Prince Charles' full
name is Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince Edward's full name is Edward Antony Richard
Louis, and Princess Anne's full name is Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise. Talk about a mouthful.
Unfortunately for Queen Elizabeth, public displays of affection are strictly off-limits
for royals, largely as a matter of custom. It is, however, a largely unspoken rule. As
royal etiquette expert Myra Meier told People magazine:
"Senior members of the royal family would likely not be told how to interact or when
they can or cannot show PDA, and would be trusted to use their better judgement as to
when it's appropriate."
This unspoken no-PDA rule is generally thought to be linked to the fact that the royals are
often out in public in an official capacity, and hugs and kisses would simply be inappropriate.
Naturally, couples like Meghan Markle and Prince Harry or Kate Middleton and Prince
William have broken the rules a few times. But what about Queen Elizabeth? Would she
ever be caught sharing a moment of affection with her husband, Prince Philip? Well, way
back in 1953, Philip kissed the Queen during her coronation, and, in 1991, he kissed her
on the cheek during the New Year celebrations. But aside from those few instances, the Queen
has tended to keep her romantic life decidedly private.
One of the strictest royal rules the family has to follow has to do with how women are
allowed to sit; specifically, that they're not allowed to cross their legs. Royal etiquette
expert Myka Meier, who covered classic royal positions in her book Modern Etiquette Made
Easy, explains that she calls the common female sitting position in the royal family the "Duchess
Slant." The sitting position involves keeping the knees firmly together while tilting the
legs to the side. Indeed, it's hard to imagine seeing Queen Elizabeth with her legs crossed
these days. As she said on the ITV documentary, Queen of the World, sitting cross legged is
actually quite painful.
"I mean the only thing I found difficult was sitting cross-legged."
"For a long period of time it can be difficult."
"It's quite painful."
Still, from the looks of it, she broke the unspoken rule about leg-crossing quite a few
times in her youth - when she was a little more sprightly!
Many people's given names are seldom used in their daily lives, and both nicknames and
short-form names have become a staple of modern life, with almost everyone going by a shorter
version of their full name. But for members of the royal family, using a nickname isn't
really allowed. All royal family members are expected to go by their full names in public
- as anything less would be deemed inappropriate.
Still, this doesn't mean that Queen Elizabeth and her family don't have private nicknames
for each other. For example, Queen Elizabeth was called "Lilibet" while she was growing
up. Additionally, her husband, Prince Philip often calls her "Cabbage." And when Prince
William was a child, he reportedly called her, "Gary," as he couldn't say "Granny."
That's quite a nickname for a Queen.
One of the rules Queen Elizabeth must always follow is to never sit on another monarch's
throne. While the opportunity probably doesn't arrive very often, Queen Elizabeth did have
to follow the rule on one particular - and rather strange - occasion. When she visited
the set of the HBO series Game of Thrones in 2014, Queen Elizabeth clearly thought better
than to sit on the show's Iron Throne.
Actress Maisie Williams, who portrayed Arya Stark on the show, spoke about the incident
on the YouTube series First We Feast. She said:
"She didn’t necessarily refuse - no one said, ‘Sit on that chair because it is going
to be funny.’ We all just sort of smiled and were like, is she going to do it? She
sort of looked and said, ‘That doesn’t look very comfy.'"
When it comes to food, the royals have to follow a surprising number of rules and regulations.
So while you may be tempted to think that eating like a king or queen means eating everything
your heart desires, this is far from true. Apparently, Queen Elizabeth and her family
are never allowed to eat or drink a wide variety of items, including shellfish, garlic, and
even tap water.
The ban on shellfish is in place in case of digestive issues that can interfere with public
engagements. Foreign tap water is also off the menu for the same reason. Garlic is reportedly
off limits, too, according to a former palace chef - and you can probably guess why.
There are a number of beauty rules the royals are forced to follow, too. After all, there's
a reason you never see paparazzi shots of Queen Elizabeth and her family in their sweats
and sneakers! First of all, Queen Elizabeth has never been allowed to grow long nails,
so long, colorful nails are an absolute no-no in the palace. Additionally, Queen Elizabeth
has to be mindful of her hair and makeup, as the royals must always have neat, healthy-looking
hair, while makeup should be modest and natural.
There is a little wiggle room with these rules, though, and the Queen in particular is a big
fan of wearing lipstick. She even has her own signature pink color, while all of the
other ladies in the court select more muted tones. In fact, her passion for lipstick is
such that she even had her own shade commissioned for her coronation.
Some of the greatest photographs in royal history have come courtesy of the Queen's
occasional sojourns to church or to the races - with her behind the wheel. And while it's
certainly not common to see the Queen behind the wheel, she really does love to drive,
having learned while serving in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service during World
War II. Nevertheless, it turns out that the Queen probably doesn't get to drive nearly
as often as she'd like to. As Duncan Larcombe, an ex-royal correspondent, told Town and Country:
"When they're on official royal business, as far as I can remember-they are always driven
to and from their appointments."
Even when the royals do get to drive by themselves, they're never really alone. Larcombe explained:
"They'll still have their protection officers in tow. They would have had at least two vehicles
driving with them and a protection officer in the vehicle with them, all armed."
Yikes. As much as she'd probably like to, it doesn't seem like the Queen gets to enjoy
the open road like the rest of us do.
It's not just in the car that Queen Elizabeth is surrounded by security guards, though.
In fact, the Queen has probably never been out in public without security guards at her
side. According to some reports, each member of the royal family has up to five highly-trained
armed officers to look after them while they're out and about. And when Queen Elizabeth visits
her Scottish palace Balmoral, she's apparently joined by a security team made up of dozens
of officers - who reportedly refer to the Queen as "S."
And all this security isn't for nothing. In 1974, Princess Anne, Queen Elizabeth's daughter,
was almost kidnapped, but was saved by her security guard. And, when the Queen was visiting
Jamaica years later, her guards had to rescue her from an overly adoring crowd. So while
this level of constant security may sound a little over the top, based on these incidents
in the past, it's probably necessary for the safety of the Queen.
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