Thoughts & Commentary on the Obama Administration

[Lemur]

YOU DO NOT TOUCH HER MAJESTY! SHE DOES NOT TOUCH YOU! (That's why she wears gloves)

According to the press, 1960 called and it wants its monarch back.

When Michelle Obama put her arm round the Queen at Buckingham Palace, some of the more excitable elements of the media - particularly the Americans - suggested she may have been guilty of a breach of protocol.

They missed the real story, however. What was far more interesting was that the Queen put her arm round the First Lady.

It is less than 20 years ago that the Australian Prime Minister was branded “the Lizard of Oz” for committing the supposedly heinous crime of putting his hand on the Queen’s back during an official tour of Australia.

Now the Queen is not just putting up with physical gestures of affection from a woman she has only just met, but is reciprocating with one of her own. [...]

A breach of protocol? Hardly. Buckingham Palace was very relaxed today about the incident, and attitudes there have changed significantly since the days of Mr Keating and his lese-majesty. And no, they don’t issue instructions to people about not touching the Queen.

“This was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation between The Queen and Michelle Obama,” said a Palace spokeswoman.