There were, however, some faux pas made on both sides. Michelle Obama made a huge royal error by touching the Queen, going in for a hug. Royal regulations only permit handshakes when the queen offers her hand. Oops. Scandal!
On the other hand, Prince Philip thought it would be nice to greet President Obama with a racist joke. You know, to break the ice. You can't blame the man for doing what he's good at. The exchange went something like this:
But in addition to delivering a gift to the Obama's, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, delivered a faux pas as well when the two couples first met. (Although that is the sort of gift he often gives to the British media.)Between who, exactly, your majesty? You mean all those "slitty-eyed" Chinese folks? There are actually a number of awkward and offensive ways to interpret his joke -- and none of them are very funny. Ah, Prince Philip. What a jokester. Just another day at Buckingham Palace. That's racist! Lots more on this incident over at Disgrasian, Global Grind and Jack & Jill Politics.
The queen marveled at how the president managed to stay awake from the jet lag. President Obama detailed his schedule from the morning, mentioning that he had "meetings with the Chinese, the Russians, David Cameron. And I'm proud to say I did not nod off in one of the meetings."
Prince Philip, already chortling in the background, blurted: "Can you tell the difference between them?"
The president, trying to smooth over the awkward comment from a man known to make such gaffes, offered diplomatically, "It's all a blur, of course, of course."