US First Lady Michelle Obama hugs the Queen of United Kingdom

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LONDON — Michelle Obama has done what few others have managed — getting Queen Elizabeth II to break protocol.

The first lady arrived Wednesday with President Barack Obama. After separate meetings on the eve of the G-20 summit, the couple attended an evening reception for world leaders hosted by the queen.

Mrs. Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch — so much that the smiling queen strayed from protocol and put her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection.

It was the first time Mrs. Obama — who is nearly a foot taller — had met the queen. The first lady also embraced her.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman who asked not to be identified because of palace policy said he could not remember the last time that the queen had displayed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary.

"It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection," he said. "We don't issue instructions on not touching the queen."

When the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating put his arm around the queen in 1992, the tabloids dubbed him the "Lizard of Oz." When his successor, John Howard, was accused of doing the same, a spokesman insisted: "We firmly deny that there was any contact whatsoever." In 2007, President Bush gave the queen a sly wink during a visit she paid to the United States.

The Daily Mail said the "two women clearly took to each other."

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News & Politics

Tags:

• Michelle
• Obama
• hugs
• queen
• Elizabeth
• England
• royalty
• protocol
• affection
• G20
• Barack
• america
• europe
• united
• sarah
• states

[MouseNightshirt]

Pffft. So stupid. The majority of Britain are indifferent, but we love the spectacle when it happens. And on the money front, enough work has been done to show that the tourism income generated by the royal family outstrips the money we spend on them.

Let's face it, it's a grand old institution that, comparatively, costs little yet provides a national identity, a history of culture and tradition and provides £ to the British economy.

[lloveComedy]

It does amaze me how many American Presidents the Queen has shaken hands with (going right back to Roosevelt I think)... they come and go, she doesn't.

Long Live Our Queen, Elizabeth II

[drunkest100]

@onebrandofdemocracy You're number 2 in the world for executing your own people.

[drunkest100]

@onebrandofdemocracy Slavery was banned in England in 1215, when did it end in your country?

[southafricandominion]

her majesty not Her royal highness where were you educted!

[09blueumbrella]

HM not HRH

[tjbollman1]

@lloveComedy I think the Queen was very classy in the way she covered her shock. I have more respect for her with every passing day.

[dannygilbert82]

Hahaha. This is too funny! The actual clip shows the queen recoiling from Michelle. Nice try...

[danidoglover1]

oh get over it this is the 21st century