March 18th marks National Awkward Moments Day, a day where everyone can celebrate their 'I want the ground to swallow me up' moments and embrace them as part of everyday life. The royal family are no different to us, suffering some awkward moments that are seriously cringeworthy. The benefit of not being a royal is these mishaps aren’t usually caught on camera and broadcast to the world. We can't help but feel sorry for them, with so many of these moments being totally relatable…
The Duchess of Cambridge vs those pesky metal grates
In February 2018, the Duchess of Cambridge caught her black stiletto in a metal drain grate during her royal visit to the new addiction treatment centre in Wickford. Kate recovered gracefully from the incident. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time a metal grate got in her way as whilst attending the St. Patrick's Day parade at the Aldershot Barracks in 2013 the same thing happened. The mother-of-three kneeled carefully to retrieve her heel and laughed off the mishap with a smooth and swift execution.
Rare regal misstep
In July 2018, President Trump visited the Queen at Windsor Castle. As the pair inspected her guard of honour, Donald Trump walked in front of the Queen and then abruptly stopped in front of the 92-year old, forcing her to sidestep around the President to get past. An awkward move by the President, as royal protocol strictly states that the Queen must always lead when walking. The move sent Twitter followers into a frenzy, with one tweeting: "I cannot believe how disrespectful Donald Trump is. Leave the queen waiting for over 10 minutes, doesn't bow and then walks directly in front of her."
Prince Charles gets in a flap
Prince Charles met the mascot of Army Air Corps, Zephyr the eagle, at the Sandringham flower show in 2015. The eagle became startled and attempted to fly away, leading the Prince and Duchess of Cornwall unable to maintain their composure and taking a step back from the bird, caught in this hilarious snap.
Kate's blustery fashion faux pas
Kate has battled with wind a few times, but her most recent blustery moment was at Princess Eugenie's wedding. According to etiquette expert Myka Meier, Kate and Meghan choose undergarments with lots of static – which is quite deliberate as they ensure their skirts easily cling. Speaking to The Sun, Myka explains "Often they wear body suits and clothes that actually increase static so it's much hard for something to fly up," adding: "So you have an under garment that is almost like a body suit that is one tactic that is used." Unfortunately it looks like this didn't help on this occasion!
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The Duchess of Sussex's confusion over protocol
In June 2018 the Duchess of Sussex and the Queen had their first official royal engagement together, laughing and smiling as they opened the new Mersey Gateway Bridge. However, it was clear Meghan was unsure on royal protocol, as she questioned who should get into the car first when leaving the venue. The mother-to-be asked "What is your preference?", to which the Queen replied: "You go first." "Oh OK," Meghan replied.
Princess Diana's encounter that had her blushing
Princess Diana met lifeguards at Terrigal beach during her visit to Australia in 1988. The Princess joked that she had been "waiting all day for this" as she was greeted by six lifeguards wearing no more than a tiny pair of swim shorts. Diana blushed as her photo was taken alongside the life guards, a photo that shows there is little difference between the royal family and us.
Prince William's quick snooze
Prince William attended the Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey just a couple of days after the birth of his third child, Prince Louis. His disrupted sleep pattern obviously got the better of the father-of-three, as he battled to keep his eyes open through the whole service.
Prince Harry's awkward air kiss
Prince Harry accompanied his wife Meghan Markle and mother-in-law Doria Ragland to the launch of Together: Our Community Kitchen, a cookbook with recipes from a group of women affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Doria double-kissed co-ordinator of Hubb Community Kitchen, Zahira, with Harry following suit. However, Prince Harry got confused and paused on embrace deciding to air kiss Zahira in an awkward exchange.
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The Duchess of Sussex's awkward kiss
Meghan Markle met Lord Christopher Geidt, the former private secretary to the Queen, at Kings College London, when she attended an International Women's Day Panel in 2019. His welcome kiss seemed to catch the Duchess off guard, but they both managed to laugh it off very quickly!
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