Photo: Queen Elizabeth and U.S. President Barack Obama finally toast during a State Banquet in Buckingham Palace after an embarrassing mishap.Oops.
President Obama botched his toast to the Queen on Tuesday night, delivering his remarks at the wrong time, awkwardly resulting in no one drinking from their glasses.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please stand with me and raise your glasses as I propose a toast. To Her Majesty the Queen," the commander-in-chief said at the Buckingham Palace state dinner. Then, the orchestra -- apparently thinking Obama was finished -- began playing "God Save the Queen."
Instead of waiting for the British anthem to finish, Obama plodded through his toast, quoting Shakespeare and praising the relationship between Britain and the U.S. But when he raised his glass, no one else followed suit, as the band played on.
The Queen merely glanced in Obama's direction while others stoically looked ahead. Obama nervously placed his glass back on the table and waited for the song to end, at which point the Queen raised her glass.
In the U.K, it's customary for people to stand at attention when the national anthem is played, according to London's Telegraph.
Obama laughed off the flap, telling Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that the orchestra gave him a soundtrack to his closing passage.
Clegg joked the music added "a crescendo" to his words.