Lewis Hamilton once got a royal telling-off from The Queen over his bad table manners at a Buckingham Palace lunch.
The Formula 1 star's achievements have seen him meet the royal family on several occasions. One of the most recent was late last year, when he was knighted by the Prince of Wales – the man who became King Charles III following the death of his mother on Thursday.
But one of his earlier honours was handed out by Queen Elizabeth II herself, back in 2009. Hamilton, who only had one of his world championships under his belt at the time, was made an MBE – and was later invited to an intimate lunch event to celebrate.
Hamilton had earlier been told by Her Majesty that she was a fan, and that she had been cheering him on the previous year when he snatched the 2008 title at the dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix. But that didn't save him from her anger as he flouted the rules at the dinner table.
As the racer revealed in a TV interview, he had been just one of eight guests at the table with The Queen. And he had no chance of getting away with anything that was not protocol, given that he had the honour of being seated next to the monarch herself.
The Queen's usual unwritten rule was to seat herself next to the male guest considered to be the most important, while her husband Prince Philip did the same with a female guest of his choosing. So when she chose to be seated next to Hamilton, he was naturally excited.
But as he revealed on the Graham Norton show, he soon got a telling-off when he tried to speak to her straight away. "I got invited to a lunch and was sitting next to The Queen," he said. "I was excited and started to talk to her but she said, pointing to my left, 'No, you speak that way first and I'll speak this way and then I'll come back to you'."
Fortunately for the racer, his ignorance of royal dinner table etiquette did not seem to sour the mood. Eventually, Her Majesty engaged in conversation with him, as Hamilton added: "She is a sweet woman and we talked about how she spends her weekends, houses and music. She is really cool."
Before the news of her death on Thursday evening, Hamilton had sent an emotional message of support to The Queen as it became apparent her health was declining. "She has been such a strong leader for such a long, long time and so resilient," he said. "I know she has always been a real fighter, so my thoughts are with her and the family. My prayers are with them. I am hoping for better news soon."
