Meghan & Beyoncé May Have Broken Royal Protocol On The 'Lion King' Red Carpet
The royals never break the rules... unless Beyoncé is involved. The world's two favorite queens, Beyoncé and Meghan Markle, finally met on Sunday, July 14, and royal experts apparently feel Meghan and Beyoncé broke royal protocol at The Lion King premiere. Listen, we all make sacrifices for the greater good. This greater good just happened to be a hug from Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with the cast and part of the crew of The Lion King reboot, which premieres globally on Friday, July 19. The two royals made a date night out of the event, strolling up in matching black outfits and big smiles on their faces. They met Keegan-Michael Key, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Bob Iger, and Pharrell, spoke with longtime family friend Elton John, Lion King director Jon Favreau, and at the end of the line of celebrities was the Queen and King of America: Beyoncé and JAY-Z.
In the photos and videos of the two couples meeting, it's plain to see the excitement on all four of their faces that they were finally meeting each other. (Beyoncé and JAY-Z had a portrait of Meghan in their Brit Award speech, and Beyoncé dedicated an entire post on her website to the Duchess. Yes, they are fans.) It was this excitement, royal experts believe, that pushed Meghan and Harry to say, "To hell with the rules! I'm hugging Beyoncé!"
Best.
Friends.
Forever!
That hug was a big no-no in the eyes of royal expert Katie Nicholl. But that wasn't the only "offense" Beyoncé committed during this interaction, apparently.
"Well, Beyoncé did break protocol because she turned up after the royals," Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight. "Well, that is a big no-no because when it’s a royal premiere, the royals should be the last people to arrive."
Another source told ET that not only did Beyoncé and JAY-Z arrive after the royals, but they also got louder cheers from the fans standing by. The source said Bey and JAY "completely upstaged" Meghan and Harry in Leicester Square. I mean, did y'all expect anything different...? It's Beyoncé.
Nicholl says that hug was totally against the rules as well, although she doesn't blame Bey for it. Meghan clearly went in for that hug, as did Harry (he even gave Bey two kisses on the cheek — another no-no).
"Hugging a royal, no, it's not standard protocol," she said. "So yeah, I think Beyoncé got special treatment by Their Royal Highnesses. They were really, really thrilled to meet her, as told by a Palace source. It was the very first time, in fact, that either Meghan or Harry had met Beyoncé. And you could see that."
"[Beyoncé] also embraced both of the royals," Nicholl continued. "There's a lot of sort of very tactile chemistry going on with Beyoncé with her hand around Meghan's lower back, and also with Harry's two kisses for her as well — certainly not what we usually expect of royal protocol."
This just goes to show that even royalty sees Beyoncé as royalty. Sorry 'bout it, Queen Elizabeth!
