Ever wonder what happens when the Queen of femme pop, Beyoncé meets the members of the British royal family? Well, it has gotten awkward, with the latter getting too starstruck. Here's a closer look at the Renaissance artist's memorable interactions with the royals.
Inside Beyoncé's Awkward Interaction With Princess Eugenie
In 2013, Queen Bey unwittingly picked a 23-year-old Princess Eugenie to sing along with her during per performance of Irreplaceable. The singer had placed the microphone in front of the Princess, urging her to repeat the famous line of the song, "to the left."
But unlike many fans that would belt out the phrase like they'd been preparing for the moment all their lives, Prince Andrew's daughter found herself frozen, unable to let a single word out.
An insider later told Mirror that "all Eugenie's friends were teasing her about her stage fright for hours afterwards." Six years later, Eugenie was spotted in another Beyoncé concert. This time, the Austin Powers star was performing with her husband, Jay-Z to pay tribute to the 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. The ninth-in-line to the throne went "unrecognized" and was seen dancing with her now-husband Jack Brooksbank.
Inside Beyoncé & Jay-Z's 'Weird' Meeting With Prince William & Kate Middleton
In 2014, Queen Bey and Jay-Z met the future King of England, Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton. "Bey and Jay got up out of their seats during the break before the fourth quarter and walked across the court to say hi," an eyewitness told E! News at that time. "Everyone was standing up and gawking. It's a mob scene around them."
New York Magazine listed a few "weird" scenes from that night, such as Kate realizing that "she wore the wrong outfit for downing hot dogs in cramped arena seating." She was definitely not sporting any casual game night outfit back there. The outlet added that "[Lebron] James also had to participate in awkward posed photos" with the royal couple.
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That night, there were a "few hundred protesters gathered outside Barclays Center during the game, referring to the event on social media as the #RoyalShutdown," wrote NY Mag. They staged a "die-in" (lying on the ground) at Fort Greene Place and Atlantic Avenue.
Protester Katrina Pecorella later said that she was hoping William and Kate would hear them out. "If they could come out for this, like so many athletes have over this past week, using that platform to support a good cause can always be helpful to what we're doing," she told CBS News.
Beyoncé Broke Protocol During First Meeting With Meghan Markle
In 2019, W Magazine reported that "Beyoncé, Queen of America, conducted her first diplomatic relations with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, over the weekend at the London premiere of The Lion King." The Break My Soul hitmaker had apparently broken protocol after showing up to the event after the Sussexes had already arrived. "Well, BeyonceÌ did break protocol because she turned up after the royals," said royal expert, Katie Nicholl.
"Well, that is a big no-no because when it's a royal premiere, the royals should be the last people to arrive," she added, explaining how the Grammy record-breaker got "special treatment" from the controversial royal couple. "Hugging a royal, no, it's not standard protocol. So yeah, I think BeyonceÌ got special treatment by Their Royal Highnesses."
Nicholl also revealed how "thrilled" the Sussexes were during their first-ever meeting with the elusive musician. "They were really, really thrilled to meet her, as told by a palace source," shared the royal correspondent. "It was the very first time, in fact, that either Meghan or Harry had met BeyonceÌ."
"And you could see that. ... [BeyonceÌ] also embraced both of the royals," she continued. "There's a lot of sort of very tactile chemistry going on with BeyonceÌ 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."
In their Netflix documentary, the "flop" Harry & Meghan, the former Suits star revealed that BeyonceÌ had sent her a text after her bombshell interview with Oprah. "Beyoncé just texted," Meghan said as Prince Harry dramatically gasped. "Just checking in. I still can't believe she knows who I am!"
"She said she wants me to feel safe and protected," the Duchess said of the singer's message. "She admires and respects my bravery and vulnerability and thinks I was selected to break generational curses that need to be healed." Harry reacted, saying, "That's well said."