Royal-watchers were privy to what some call an “awkward” moment on Monday between President Joe Biden and newly-crowned British monarch, King Charles III.
Biden, who was making a stop in the U.K. ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania on Tuesday, met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his quick visit, and later met King Charles at Windsor Castle along with many business leaders and U.S./U.K. officials. During the quick stop at Windsor, cameras caught President Biden spending extra time talking to one of the assembled Welsh Guards —which prompted the King to try and usher him away, apparently in the interest of time. The “awkward” interaction made it onto TikTok, where many viewers commented on the “embarrassing” moment: “Joe has no idea what’s going on,” wrote one follower.
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Biden Meets Charles For The First Time Post-Crowning This Week At Windsor
President Biden arrived at Windsor Castle on Monday by helicopter for the first meeting between himself and the King since Charles ascended to the throne last year at the time of Queen Elizabeth's II's passing. The President started out the convocation by warmly placing his hand on Charles' elbow as the two men shook hands, which some palace watchers were surprised by, as the "extra touch" was not in line with usual royal protocol. But Biden took it further, by placing a hand on the King's back—again, in an apparent physical gesture of friendliness with the fellow head of state—as the pair reviewed the assembled Welsh Guards outside at Windsor. The King didn't seem to mind, however, as he reciprocated the gesture by placing his own hand on the President's back awhile later.
The real "awkward" moment came when Biden appeared to loiter by speaking for an extended period with the Guard of Honor. When King Charles attempted to usher him away politely, the President either did not hear him or was too engrossed in his conversation —and only moved along after Charles appeared to "snap" to get him to move along, gesturing at the guard after the President took his leave.
Despite the slight awkwardness, the men were otherwise all smiles and very genial during their meeting, and Buckingham Palace assured the media that, in the King's opinion, no royal protocol had been breached, and Charles was "entirely comfortable" with the friendly gesture: "What a wonderful symbol of warmth and affection it was between both the individuals and their nations," they stated.
However, some TikTok commenters had a field day with the moment after video went viral, calling it "embarrassing" and "awkward".
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Despite King Charles' apparent comfort with Biden and his expressions of congeniality, many TikTokers found the situation awkward. "So embarrassing," bemoaned one. Another agreed: "The Guard was probably just standing at attention. Biden talks to himself. He is an embarrassment to our country!" Still others remarked about the perceived break with tradition — "What a damn embarrassment!! And you KNOW [Biden] was trained on the protocols!!"
Even so, many other commenters failed to see what the big fuss was all about. "How does anyone actually remotely care about this?" wondered one TikTok user. "God forbid he should chat with a working class minion, right?! Good for Joe," replied another. One commenter brought up the differences between the countries' traditions: "Two different customs. In the USA you can talk to military. Big deal. He didn't make the Queen cringe like Trump did," referring to the former president's own awkward visit with Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.
One commenter put their thoughts on the matter succinctly: "It's not that deep."
President Biden caught some fire in May of this year when he declined an invitation to attend the coronation of the new King Charles at Westminster Abbey. However, it seems the President was likely following our own traditions with the decision, as no U.S. president has ever attended a British monarch's coronation in our history since the Revolutionary War, an apparent nod to our origins as rivals before the cementing of the "Special Relationship."
