Elisabeth Hasselbeck had a "very awkward" encounter with Queen Elizabeth II when she broke protocol and tried to hug the late monarch.
The 48-year-old presenter accepted an invitation to a White House state dinner from then-President George W. Bush and she has recalled how "nervous" she felt ahead of meeting the British queen - who died in September 2022 - because she was unaware of the expectations that came with meeting royalty, and thinks "didn't go well".
Appearing on The Weekend View, Elisabeth said: “I was so nervous. I wore my wedding cape..
“I had no idea what to do when I got there. Like, I didn't know [you couldn’t touch her].
“I went in for a hug. It didn't go well. It was very awkward.”
And things only got worse when Elisabeth and her husband Tim Hasselbeck sat down for dinner because she was baffled by the vast amount of cutlery presented to her - and even tried to drink from a finger bowl before the president's son, Jeb Bush, explained it was for washing.
She said: “There were so many things before me, so many forks. I grew up simply, you know?
“I remember this, like, chalice of something, and I didn't … grow up with many courses.
"I’m literally mid-sip, and Jeb Bush leans over, Condoleezza Rice is [on] my other side, and he's like, ‘You might not want to drink that. That's for your hands.' "
But Elisabeth wasn't the only person to have made that mistake, because The Weekend View's co-host Sunny Hostin admitted she had also once drank from a finger bowl because she had "never" seen one before.
She said: “My prom was at Tavern on the Green. Believe it or not.
“I grew up in poverty. I'd never seen anything like that.
“I brought this guy, Louie, with me, who was also from the hood. And so they had that little glass [in front of us]. It looked a little soapy, but it had a slice of lemon. And I said, ‘So, Louie, what is this?’ And why would Louie know? He's like, ‘It's to cleanse your palate.’ And then he chugs it! And I chugged it, too!
“It's [was] soap water to dip your fingers after having seafood or something."
