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Joe Biden left his sunglasses behind when he met Queen Elizabeth II, but a former royal servant told Newsweek he “should have removed them”.
US President and First Lady Jill Biden arrived at Windsor Castle by Marine One to attend a military honor guard and have tea with the 95-year-old king.
However, amid the glare of the English summer, the 78-year-old did not take off his dark glasses.
Grant Harold, former butler to Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, told Newsweek that the president was entitled to wear his glasses at the event, but they should have been removed the moment he greeted Elizabeth.
Joe Biden and Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on June 13 in Windsor, England, after the G7 summit. The US president kept his sunglasses on when greeting the Queen, which was widely seen as a violation of royal protocol. Chris Jackson / Getty Images
“If you’re meeting the Queen face to face, there are no sunglasses or anything like that at all because eye contact is very important with any introduction,” said Harold, who offers etiquette advice through his website The Royal Butler.
“It’s nice that Biden wears sunglasses, but he had to take them off when he actually met the Queen,” Harold continued. “On everyone else, it doesn’t matter who you are, even the royals remove their sunglasses when they meet the royals. It’s one of those rules I always write about in my etiquette texts. It’s a violation of protocol. You’re not wearing sunglasses. First Lady Jill wasn’t wearing sunglasses.”
Biden wore the glasses as he approached the catwalk at Quandrangle at Windsor Castle, holding the first lady’s hand, to greet the Queen.
He also wore them while standing, hand over heart, for the United States national anthem, but took them off partially during the ceremony.
Once the proceedings were over, Biden joined Elizabeth inside the castle for tea away from the media.
While neither side has revealed any account of what was discussed among public figures, a photo gave a glimpse into the 1,000-year-old castle’s decor.
The trio is depicted against a background of fuchsia, artwork from the Royal Collection and two grandfather’s watches.
About an hour and 15 minutes after the plane landed in Windsor, the president and first lady are back in the air, and at their next stop, Brussels, in Belgium.
At Heathrow, Biden told the press that Elizabeth was “very generous”. “I don’t think she would be offended, but she reminded me of my mother,” he added.
For the Queen, she wrapped up her busiest three days in more than a year after she attended a G7 reception on Friday and her birthday parade was scaled back on Saturday.
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