Why can't you touch royalty?

Answer 1

The issue isn't royalty so much as understanding that proper etiquette doesn't allow you to touch ANYONE without his or her permission. No hugs, no kisses, no arm squeezes, no nothing.

Traditionally, one should not attempt to shake the hand of the Queen until she extends her hand to you.

However, court etiquette has relaxed a great deal over the years -- even bowing and curtseying are now optional -- and the claim by the press that Michelle Obama somehow trespassed it was not true. The Queen touched Mrs. Obama first, and the two of them seem to have gotten along rather unusually well.

It's up to the Queen, not the press or anyone else, to decide what and who she likes and what and who she doesn't. She doesn't normally communicate these matters to the press. The reporters, not being in intimate communication with her, simply make things up as they go along, and usually, as it turns out, they get things wrong.