The royal hug

Barack Obama gushed to the media prior to his royal reception: “There’s one last thing that I should mention that I love about Great Britain,and that is the queen. And as you might imagine,Michelle has been really thinking that through.” Standing in the Palace’s ornate picture gallery,the American first lady broke a hitherto sacrosanct “no-touch” rule with a brief hug. Unexpectedly,the queen reciprocated this rare public display of affection.

Buckingham Palace was once regarded as being far away from the public and out of touch with public sentiments. However,the collective mourning over the death of Princess Diana drew a more democratic response from the royal family — though much delayed and perhaps grudging,as captured in the Oscar-winning film The Queen. Behind closed doors,however,etiquette is still of primary importance: one should never turn one’s back on her,stop eating when the queen has had her last bite,and speak after being spoken to. The British are known for their characteristic reserved demeanour and take matters pertaining to etiquette extremely seriously. Note what happened when George W. Bush winked at the queen in 2007. The British press were aghast; his popularity plummeted even further. Similarly in 1992,the then Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating breached protocol by placing his arm around the queen; the outcome: he earned the title “Lizard of Oz”.

So,what attributes to the Obama family’s Midas touch? The fact that they appear to be real “normal” people? Michelle Obama took her time out to visit an all-girls school in north London on her first day there,her message to the kids,“education was cool”. Dignitaries tend to shy away from being seen in public,the Obamas do not. Of course,despite the rosy picture,the Obama administration finds itself in a difficult position,both on the domestic and international front.