Resurfaced Photo Shows Queen Elizabeth Breaking Protocol and Eating With Her Hands — and We Love It
During a 1980 trip to Morocco, the late Queen Elizabeth opted to use her hands to eat roasted meat for a heartwarming reason.
Being part of the royal family, let alone the Queen of England, is not all banquets and tiaras, but rather a full-time masterclass in etiquette. Just ask the late Queen Elizabeth, who seldom faltered when it came to her impeccable table manners, tackling even the most unfathomable dishes with a knife and fork. However, during a 1980 visit to Morocco, she broke this protocol, opting to use her hands to eat roasted meat, as a gracious nod to the local culture, and not out of a fork-and-knife shortage.
Touring the country alongside her husband, Prince Philip, the Queen swapped regality for respect when she sat down with King Hassan II, father of the current King of Morocco, Mohammed VI. In the stormy desert, she and Philip dug into the food with their hands, as was the case with the other guests at the dining table. In Morocco, it is traditional to eat with hands; meals like couscous or tagine are often shared from a communal dish. The Queen and the late Duke of Edinburgh were on a four-day visit, touring Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech.
Unsurprisingly, the Queen's rare rule break made its rounds on X (Formerly Twitter), where royal fans expressed their disbelief at the bizarre protocol. A netizen remarked, "Do they eat their sandwiches with knives and forks if eating with a hand is breaking protocol?" In a similar vein, another said, "How can using your hands be against protocol. This is madness." Meanwhile, a royal watcher questioned, "She'd never touch food? How....." As the comments poured in, a fan quipped, "Na for photo ops."
As for her bizarre eating etiquette, former royal chef Darren McGrady told Marie Claire of how the late monarch preferred to eat bananas, with a knife and fork! He said, "With a banana, she [the Queen] will cut off the bottoms and cut the banana lengthwise, and then cut the banana into tiny slices to eat with a fork." His statement was also echoed by etiquette expert William Hansen, who told The Daily Mail that she usually ate bananas after dinner was served. "A banana is always the easiest fruit to pick. Cut both ends off with dessert cutlery (very sharp), slice down the skin to unwrap, and then cut off slices and eat with a fork and knife."
While the Queen looked happy to be indulging in a rare protocol break, according to royal author Robert Hardman, the trip was one of her most difficult state tours. In his book, Our Queen, he revealed that at one point, King Hassan disappeared for an afternoon and left the late monarch clueless by herself. He also asked for the final-night banquet to be postponed, which allegedly infuriated her. On top of that, when King Hassan attempted to criticize one of her team, she sneered, "I'll thank you not to speak about my staff like that."
