In 2011, Obama attended a state dinner at Buckingham Palace, where he was seated next to the queen.
According to CNN, Her Majesty gave a toast to the then-president, and afterwards, Obama thanked her by saying, “To Her Majesty the Queen.” However, the orchestra reportedly thought Obama was finished talking and began playing the British national anthem.
Obama continued to talk over the music, which was considered to be breaking protocol. The other guests, meanwhile, simply stood to observe the national anthem. Her Majesty did not say much while Obama was talking over the national anthem. However, after Obama ended his toast, she herself broke protocol to thank him.
“She says ‘that was very kind, thank you,’” etiquette expert William Hanson noted in the documentary Secrets of the Royals, according to Express. “The Queen deliberately broke with the etiquette in order to be more well-mannered.”
As for why royals often take protocol seriously, Hanson explained, “Etiquette and protocol is so important for the Royal Family because it tells people what to do.”
The national anthem accident wasn’t the only time an Obama broke protocol with Queen Elizabeth II. In 2009, Obama and his wife, Michelle, met Queen Elizabeth shortly after his inauguration.
During the meeting, Michelle put her arm around the queen, which was apparently not something anyone should do per royal protocol. Although Her Majesty reciprocated the gesture, there was a lot of public uproar concerning Michelle’s little touch.
When the Obamas met Queen Elizabeth again in 2016, she reportedly encouraged them to break some rules.
“After we’d touched down in a field on the palace grounds and said our hellos, however, the Queen abruptly threw a wrench into everything by gesturing for me to join her in the backseat of the Range Rover,” Michelle wrote in her 2018 book, Becoming.
Michelle recalled that she hesitated because she understood her husband was supposed to sit next to the queen. Yet, Her Majesty told Michelle, “Did they give you some rule about this? That’s rubbish. Sit wherever you want.”