Home » Latest » Celebrity » Times Queen Elizabeth Was Disrespected In Public

Times Queen Elizabeth Was Disrespected In Public

11

23 0 Celebrity

9.1

SaveSavedRemoved 3

Six decades of curtseys, handshakes, and photo ops have tested the Queen’s composure, and cameras have caught nearly every slip.

Queen Elizabeth II has sat through more state visits, garden parties, and runway shows than any other living monarch, and protocol around her is famously exacting: no touching, no crossing your legs at the knee, no walking ahead of her. Nicki Swift’s video “Times Queen Elizabeth Was Disrespected In Public” runs through the moments when public figures — presidents, fashion editors, pop stars, and even her own family — broke those unwritten rules in front of the cameras. Some were genuine breaches of etiquette; others were harmless gestures that got labeled scandalous simply because they happened next to the Queen.

• In July 2018, Donald Trump walked in front of the Queen while inspecting the Coldstream Guards at Windsor Castle, briefly blocking her path.
• Michelle Obama put her arm around the Queen’s back during a Buckingham Palace reception ahead of the April 2009 G-20 summit, breaking the monarchy’s long-standing “no-touch” rule.
• Rihanna faced backlash in April 2017 after posting Instagram images that superimposed the Queen’s head onto avant-garde street-style outfits to mark her 91st birthday.

Trump’s Windsor Castle Walk

When President Trump visited Windsor Castle in July 2018, the itinerary called for him to inspect the Coldstream Guards alongside the Queen in a carefully choreographed procession. Instead, Trump stepped ahead of her at one point, cutting across her line of walking and forcing the 92-year-old monarch to adjust her path mid-stride. Footage of the moment circulated instantly, with commentators pointing out that visiting heads of state are typically briefed extensively on royal protocol precisely to avoid this kind of mix-up.

The Queen, for her part, barely broke stride and continued the inspection as if nothing had happened — the same unbothered composure she’s shown through seven decades of similar near-misses.

The Sunglasses at London Fashion Week

In February 2018, Anna Wintour sat in the Queen’s own front row at Richard Quinn’s runway show during London Fashion Week — an invitation extended for the Queen to present the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Wintour, however, kept her signature dark sunglasses on throughout the show, seated directly beside the monarch. Given that removing sunglasses indoors, especially next to royalty, is treated as basic courtesy in most etiquette guides, the choice drew immediate criticism from royal-watchers who felt it read as dismissive rather than stylish.

Wintour has worn her sunglasses in nearly every public appearance for years, a signature so consistent that some defenders argued she simply forgot to break habit — even for the Queen.

Meghan Markle’s Leggy Mistake

Shortly after marrying into the royal family, Meghan Markle came under scrutiny for crossing her legs at the knee during formal engagements alongside the Queen, rather than adopting the so-called “duchess slant” — ankles crossed, knees together, a seated posture Kate Middleton has been praised for mastering. It’s a small detail, but royal protocol watchers flagged it repeatedly during Markle’s early months as a working royal, treating it as a sign she was still adjusting to the family’s unwritten rulebook. Readers curious about the pressures Markle faced entering that world can find more context in this timeline of her family background.

Michelle Obama’s Embrace

The most talked-about “no-touch” breach came in April 2009, when Michelle Obama placed her arm around the Queen’s back during a Buckingham Palace reception held ahead of the G-20 summit. Protocol dictates that no one, aside from close family, physically touches the monarch — yet the Queen appeared to reciprocate, resting her own arm around the First Lady’s back in return.

Buckingham Palace described the exchange at the time as a spontaneous, mutual display of affection.

That framing effectively ended the controversy before it could build, turning what might have been a diplomatic headache into a warm footnote from the visit.

Rihanna’s Royal Photoshop Job

In April 2017, Rihanna marked the Queen’s 91st birthday by posting a series of Instagram images superimposing the monarch’s head onto various avant-garde street-style outfits — bold prints, statement sunglasses, and streetwear silhouettes nowhere near Buckingham Palace’s usual dress code. The posts were clearly intended as playful tribute, but they drew a wave of criticism from royalists who felt doctoring the Queen’s image, even in jest, crossed a line that pop stars don’t typically get to cross.

Princess Diana’s Original Break From Protocol

Long before Markle or Wintour, Princess Diana built a reputation for departing from strict royal convention in her public and media appearances — a pattern the video treats as the template every later “disrespect” story gets measured against. Diana’s willingness to bend the rules, whether in how she dressed, spoke to reporters, or engaged with crowds, set a precedent that made the family’s unwritten code of conduct a recurring media story long before the current generation of royals came along. Readers looking at how other royal figures have diverged from expectations can find more in this look at royal family members who are nothing like they seem.

None of these moments actually rattled the Queen in the way headlines suggested — Buckingham Palace’s own statement on the Obama hug makes that clear. What the video really catalogues is how much scrutiny gets attached to a single misplaced step, a kept-on pair of sunglasses, or a crossed knee once the person standing next to it is Elizabeth II.