The honor of meeting Queen Elizabeth comes with a strict set of guidelines, that everyone
from athletes, to celebs, to heads of state have screwed up.
And you don't even have to meet the Queen in person to offend her!
Check out these scandalous moments when her majesty was disrespected in public.
"And is there any situation where you do more than a cursey?"
"Like what?"
"Like a kiss?"
"Oh good Lord no."
President Donald Trump isn't exactly known for his adherence to any sort of etiquette,
so it's no surprise that he seemingly forgot royal protocol when he met Queen Elizabeth
in July 2018.
According to USA Today, the commander-in-chief committed several flubs when he allegedly…
"[…Kept] her waiting for more than 10 minutes (which may not have been his fault), shook
her hand instead of bowing, turned his back on her for a few seconds, and he left his
jacket open and flapping and his too-long tie trailing."
"No doubt you want a moment like that to go smoothly, you don't want it all over Twitter."
Trump issued no apology, and according to Politico, he later claimed that he was the
one waiting on the queen, despite footage proving otherwise.
He did later refer to the Queen as "elegant" and "beautiful," according to The Telegraph…which
are both words he also used to describe the game of golf, for Fortune magazine.
Anyone who's heard of Anna Wintour, longtime editor-in-chief of Vogue, is also familiar
with her iconic sunglasses.
And when she left them on while meeting Queen Elizabeth during London Fashion Week in 2018,
she apparently ruffled some feathers.
According to the Independent, etiquette expert Grant Harrold called the slight, quote, "the
height of bad manners" as well as a "serious breach" of protocol.
Perhaps Wintour, a British native who received the honor of "Dame Commander" less than a
year earlier, felt she could bend the rules a bit.
Or maybe, after seemingly wearing shades 24/7 for decades, she forgot they were on her face.
"Anna, there's no window in here, why are you putting those on?"
"Hiding from you."
"What is the national animal of England?...Am I supposed to know that?"
In the run up to her nuptials, Meghan Markle was accused of bucking royal trends in every
way, from her divorcée status, to her and Prince Harry's PDA.
But it was her majesty who became the victim of Markle's alleged etiquette fail during
The Queen's Young Leaders Awards in July 2018.
According to the New Zealand Herald, one Facebook user pointed out:
"[She] has her legs crossed wrong.
What a disrespect to the queen.
All royal ladies cross at the ankles or put both legs off to the side."
Prior to this infraction, Insider reported that Markle slighted her future grandmother-in-law
when she skipped the stockings for her engagement photos.
One of the obvious rules of etiquette regarding Queen Elizabeth is to not touch her.
But what happens when the offending party is then-First Lady, Michelle Obama?
The Guardian reported that Obama "gave the Queen a hug" at a reception at Buckingham
Palace in 2009, which the Queen then reciprocated by quote, "putting her arm [around] Obama's
waist."
Ultimately, the British news outlet pointed out several other past "touching" incidents
with other world leaders, and decided this wasn't a "major diplomatic incident."
"Hey, Prince Harry, remember when you told us to bring it at the Invictus Games?"
"Careful what you wish for."
She may be music royalty, but Rihanna drew the ire of her majesty's supporters in 2017
when she posted a string of hilariously-altered images of the queen's head on RiRi's body.
Predictably, she took some heat with one user posting:
"Rihanna doesn't even know what respect means she's trashy always will be."
But that didn't phase RiRi.
According to The Wrap, she then posted another doctored pic with the caption, "haters will
say it's photoshop."
God save the Queen…and the Queen of social media.
"Rihanna, she owns, she owns."
"She's the queen."
"...the Met Gala."
Preceding Meghan Markle under the impossible scrutiny of royal family fans was, of course,
the late Princess Diana, who endured an absolute media fixation on the ways in which she supposedly
embarrassed her queen mother-in-law.
According to Good Housekeeping, this included everything from her wedding to Prince Charles,
and how they raised their children, to baring her knees in public.
But it was Diana's explosive 1995 interview with the BBC, that got the Queen's knickers
in a bunch.
During the scandalous sit-down, the then-separated Diana confirmed that both she and Prince Charles
engaged in extramarital affairs.
One month after the interview, according to the New York Times, Queen Elizabeth wrote
to both Charles and Diana, strongly encouraging them to quickly divorce.
By 1996, her majesty got her wish, according to History.com, although Diana reportedly
walked away from the marriage with:
"…a generous settlement, and the right to retain her apartments at Kensington Palace
and her title of 'Princess of Wales.'"
Any guess on how the Queen felt about that one?
"There are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise, they're quite important things."