Queen Elizabeth Used to Break Etiquette and Go Missing for Hours, According to Royal Staffer
Queen Elizabeth ruled with grace and dignity for seven decades, but even she broke royal etiquette at times. Here’s how one former royal staff member remembers instances where Her Majesty did not follow protocol.
Queen Elizabeth and other royals must follow strict etiquette
Being a member of the royal family has a lot of benefits, but it also comes with a great deal of responsibility. Every royal, including Queen Elizabeth, has to follow a strict set of rules.
The dining etiquette dictated that guests, including members of the monarchy, had to wait until the queen lifted her fork to begin eating. Everyone also had to finish their food at the same time as Her Majesty. Certain topics were to be avoided at the dinner table, such as sex, money, and religion.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were known to break these rules. For example, they eschewed seating plans so they could sit next to each other, and they also showed affection at the dinner table. Before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex began distancing themselves from the royal family, they were often excluded from dinner functions due to their disregard for royal dining etiquette.
But royal protocol extends beyond dining rules. Royals, especially women, are never allowed to cross their legs at the knee. They must always sit with their legs together, although they may cross their ankles. The royal family must also follow a strict dress code at all times.
Even their language is heavily monitored. Members of the royal family must never say, “Pardon.” If they need something repeated, they have to say, “What?”
Queen Elizabeth used to break etiquette and go missing for hours, says a former royal staff member
Although Queen Elizabeth had excellent manners and set a great example for the royal family, even she broke the strict rules of royal etiquette at times.
Steven Kaye, who served Queen Elizabeth as a royal footman for over three years, shared a time when Her Majesty broke protocol with Slingo. According to Kaye, the queen disappeared for hours during a shooting lunch.
“At Sandringham we’d do the shooting lunches in a very large log cabin, so we’d have to get the fire going, lay the food out, put the bar up and make sure everything was perfect,” he described. “Once we thought the Queen had gone back to the house for lunch because it was ready for one o’clock, but there was no Queen [at the cabin]. Two o’clock arrives, three o’clock arrives, no Queen.”
He said that Queen Elizabeth showed up after dark with a bird she had killed on her hunt. “Me and my colleague footmen – there’s always this unwritten rule that you’re allowed to have a drink on duty as long as you don’t take it too far – we’d had a couple of beers waiting for them and the sniffer dogs finally arrive about 4pm and it’s getting dark,” said Kaye. “The Queen walks in, she has a pheasant in one hand and a gun in the other.”
Her Majesty also broke certain dining rules
Queen Elizabeth was careful to follow dining etiquette at big events, but she sometimes broke the rules in private.
Kaye said he remembered the queen eating with her elbows on the table. “What I found interesting is that she sat with her elbows on the table as she was eating. I just didn’t expect that,” he shared.
“You’ve always had that etiquette rule, ‘elbows off the table,’ but if it’s good enough for the Queen, then it’s good enough for all of us. I think it’s her way of making her guests feel relaxed,” said Kaye. “She’d always sit there and pick at the food with her elbows on the table. But she would never do that at a state banquet, obviously.”
