We’ve seen Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle break royal protocol, but we’ve never seen Queen Elizabeth disobey her strict rules…until now.
The 93-year-old monarch broke her own rulebook earlier this week when she hosted a garden party at Buckingham Palace. In a video shared by Laura-Ann Barr, a Belfast-based blogger who attended the gala, the queen can be seen accepting a gift in the form of a bouquet of flowers—something she never does.
In the clip, which was taken by Barr’s mother, the blogger greets Queen Elizabeth and hands her a small bouquet. To everyone’s surprise, the monarch accepts the gift and then swiftly gives it to one of her aides.
After the queen walks away, the aide approaches Barr and assures her that it’s in the right hands. “It might be easier for me to carry them, and the queen can have them when we’re indoors,” she says.
After the garden party, Barr spoke with People magazine and revealed that she knew she was breaking the rules when she brought the bouquet.
“They did inform me that unfortunately she would not stop to accept them as it’s not protocol and if I’m lucky her lady-in-waiting might spot them and accept them on her behalf,” she said. “I think they were very shocked when it happened!”
She went on to say that the queen’s team laughed it off, adding, “The security staff congratulated me and said they were surprised she stopped and accepted the flowers,” Laura-Ann says. “They said that had not happened ever before.”
After 67 years as the Queen of England, can you really blame her for wanting to shake things up a bit?
