Hundreds are likely to meet Queen Elizabeth during her four-day State visit to Ireland, whether at the State dinner at Dublin Castle or an entertainment event held at the Convention Centre in the Docklands.
So how will they greet her? The British embassy in Dublin said it has not issued any advice nor has it received any queries about the proper protocols.
The Buckingham Palace website features a special section on greeting the Queen. “Many people ask how they should behave. The simple answer is that there are no obligatory codes of behaviour – just courtesy,” it says. “However, many people wish to observe the traditional forms of greeting. For men this is a neck bow (from the head only) whilst women do a small curtsey. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way.”
The palace advises that on presentation to the Queen, the correct formal address is “Your Majesty” and subsequently “Ma’am”. For the Duke of Edinburgh, who will accompany the Queen, it is “Your Royal Highness” and subsequently “Sir”.
One writer at the Guardian newspaper has noted the Queen is “likely to be supremely relaxed by the absence of bows and curtsies” during her visit to Ireland.
In 2009, Michelle Obama’s first meeting with the Queen began with a handshake and ended in a hug that prompted much debate over the relaxing of protocols. The Queen briefly wrapped her arm around the US first lady in a rare public display of affection. Mrs Obama also placed her arm around the Queen’s shoulder and back. A palace spokesman later said he could not recall the last time the Queen had showed such public affection with a first lady or dignitary. “It was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection. We don’t issue instructions on not touching the Queen,” he said.
Others have fared less well. When former Australian prime minister Paul Keating put his arm around the Queen in 1992, the tabloids branded him the “Lizard of Oz”.
Closer to home, rugby player Ronan O’Gara was criticised for his perceived disrespect towards the Queen when he failed to take his hands out of his pockets as he was being introduced to her at Hillsborough Castle in 2009.