'We bonded over sore feet': Michelle Obama reveals why she put her arm around the Queen's shoulder in 2009

Michelle feared the criticism she received for the gesture distracted attention from the purpose of her visit with her husband, former President Barack Obama.
UPDATED NOV 15, 2018

Former First Lady Michelle Obama, in a recent interview, talked about the backlash she received after putting her around Queen Elizabeth during the former first couple's state visit to Britain and said that she believes the Queen had no problem with the gesture.

Michelle in her book, 'Becoming', recalled her first meeting with the monarch in 2009 and said: "I couldn’t have known it in the moment, but I was committing what would be deemed an epic faux pas. I’d touched the Queen of England, which I’d soon learn was apparently not done," PEOPLE reported.

The former first lady said that she feared the criticism she received for the gesture distracted attention from the purpose of her visit with her husband former President Barack Obama, however, she insisted that she doesn't feel she insulted the Queen with her gesture during the Buckingham Palace reception.

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