While most would agree that the Iran Hostage Crisis was President Jimmy Carter‘s greatest flub, it turns out that the Queen Mother Elizabeth had a different opinion — and it all has to do with the late president’s first official visit to the U.K. Unfortunately, the late President Carter made a major mistake with the royal that she would hold over his head for years.
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Just four months into what would end up being his only term, Carter flew across the pond to attend the annual G7 Summit in London. Because Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee — a celebration of her 25th year on the throne — was happening at the same time, all visiting world leaders were invited to attend a banquet at Buckingham Palace. Everything went fine…until it came time for Carter and the others to part ways with the royal family. This was when he allegedly kissed the Queen Mother directly on the lips before leaving.
The kiss heard ’round the world
While there are surely photos and videos of the event, no press member was lucky enough to actually capture this specific moment. The only thing we see in the footage from that evening is a smiling Jimmy Carter standing there with Queen Mother Elizabeth and others as they line up for a formal portrait. Words are spoken between them, but it’s impossible to decipher what they’re actually saying to each other.
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Ultimately, the world would not find out about the mini-scandal until years later when a newspaper article detailed an “anti-toast” the Queen Mother had made during a dinner party at her London residence. According to an unnamed guest, the toast was directed at people she wasn’t particularly fond of — and Carter was one of them. When asked by the guest why she wasn’t a fan of him, she reportedly responded: “Because he is the only man, since my dear husband died, to have had the effrontery to kiss me on the lips” (via Yahoo).
This apparently wasn’t the only time the Queen Mother spoke of the alleged kiss. As detailed in her official 2009 biography, royal biographer William Shawcross claimed to have talked with her about the incident at one point. During the conversation, she described how she had taken “a sharp step backwards” when Carter leaned in, and that it hadn’t been enough to stop him. It goes without saying that this account definitely holds a bit more water than that of the unnamed dinner guest who spoke to the press about the Queen Mother’s alleged “anti-toast”.
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What did Carter have to say about it?
So what did the man himself have to say about it all? According to Jimmy Carter, the kiss with Queen Mother Elizaabeth did actually happen…but not the way the press initially detailed it. In his autobiography, he attempted to set things straight, clarifying that he, quote, “lightly kissed her on the cheek”. He went on to write: “More than two years later, there were reports in the British papers that grossly distorted this event, stating that I had deeply embarrassed her with excessive familiarity. I was distressed by these reports but couldn’t change what had happened — nor did I regret it” (via Yahoo).
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Whether it was placed on the lips or on the cheek, just how extreme of a breach of etiquette was the kiss? While a bow would not have been necessary when meeting the Queen Mother, a simple handshake certainly would have sufficed.
Being that both the Queen Mother and Carter have now passed away, it looks as though we’ll never really know for sure what happened between them. All we know for sure is that many world leaders have likely used Carter’s etiquette mistake as a vicarious learning experience. If anyone were to do the same to Queen Camilla, they’d have no one to blame but themselves for the ensuing controversy.
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