The day Donald Trump dissed Queen Elizabeth
Arriving late for a meeting with Her Majesty was just one in a series of appalling protocol blunders by Donald Trump
IT WAS almost too excruciating to watch. There was the queen of England, rolling out the red carpet at Windsor Castle, her troops at the ready to give Donald Trump a display of pomp and pageantry he’d never forget. And what does the American president do? Ignore it all and do things his way. As has become his wont. For starters he arrived late, which meant that for more than 10 minutes the world’s oldest reigning monarch was left standing alone in 28°C heat waiting for Trump to show. As Queen Elizabeth (92) checked her watch repeatedly, the expression on her face said it all – she wasn’t amused.
When Trump (72) and his wife, Melania (48), finally arrived he immediately breached royal protocol by shaking the queen’s hand. Although it’s no longer mandatory for men to bow when meeting a member of the royal family, it’s considered polite.
But evidently Trump hadn’t bothered to read the rule book.
After the awkward welcome it was all downhill from there. When invited to join the queen in inspecting the Coldstream Guards, who were lined up in their traditional bearskin hats in the heat, he put his foot in it again by striding out ahead of her.
Royal etiquette dictates you never turn your back on the queen, so Trump’s glaring faux pas triggered an immediate reaction on social media.
“Did Donald Trump just WALK IN FRONT OF THE QUEEN?!?!?!” tweeted Halla Mohieddeen, a presenter on Scotland’s STV.
When British prime minister Theresa May has her weekly meeting with the monarch she makes a point of backing out of the room at the end to avoid causing offence. Even the queen’s husband, Prince Philip (97), has a habit of walking a few steps behind her when they’re out in public.
But not Trump. In another time, it might have been a case of off with his head, but instead the queen politely tried to rein him in. She was seen gesturing in
‘Did Donald Trump just WALK IN FRONT OF THE QUEEN?!?!?!’
exasperation as if trying to shoo him out of the way.
At this point he came to an abrupt stop, forcing her to shuffle around him.
Royal commentators said Trump looked as if he was wandering up and down a golf course.
Meanwhile, others were wondering why the queen had to endure the encounter all on her own.
With her husband now officially retired from royal duties, she can usually count on the support of her son Prince Charles or grandson Prince William – but it’s since emerged that both refused pointblank to be in attendance when Trump swung by.
Afterwards the president, seemingly oblivious to the offence he’d caused, couldn’t wait to brag about his visit with the queen.
“She’s an incredible woman, she’s so sharp, she’s so beautiful. When I say beautiful – inside and out. That’s a beautiful woman,” he said in an interview with Piers Morgan published on the Daily Mail website.
TRUMP’S trip to the UK was dogged by protests, including a floating blimp that shows a baby Trump in a nappy – apparently meant to symbolise his juvenile behaviour – and his tone-deaf attitude when meeting the queen just added fuel to the flames.
But he still wasn’t done causing offence. In another serious breach of protocol, hot on the heels of his shambolic visit to Windsor Castle, he went on to reveal that he and the queen had a right royal natter about Brexit.
This caused plenty of raised eyebrows among the British as senior royals, and especially the queen, are expected to remain politically impartial.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams says Trump’s series of blunders speaks volumes.
“It proves he doesn’t bother to rehearse because the thinks he doesn’t need to. It’s disgraceful but it’s what we’ve come to expect from someone who makes up his own rules as he goes along.” SOURCES: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, EXPRESS.CO.UK