Don’t be annoyed at Biden breaking royal protocol - or how other Americans act abroad

Americans are frequently yet unfairly caricatured as ignorant oafs who galavant around Europe insulting the locals and disrespecting their customs

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

A cat may look at the king, but apparently a president can’t touch one – at least not if you some people on Twitter. “I remember when a king would have any man’s head removed if such disrespect as this was done,” posted one outraged Royalist from the United States. (Try to square that circle.) Paul Golding, the leader of the far-right political party Britain First, reportedly wrote in a now-deleted tweet which included video of the president walking in front of His Majesty, “Either Biden is deliberately disrespecting our King because he’s an Irish nationalist or, his Alzheimers kicked in and he hasn’t got a clue what’s going on. Take your pick.”

I pick option c, which not coincidentally is the position of Buckingham Palace. Denying that Biden broke protocol by walking in front of the King, a Palace source also said that the touch was “a wonderful symbol of warmth and affection… between both the individuals and their nations.” No protocol was broken, and even if it was, this is not a big deal. What happened is perfectly fine. Everybody calm down.

That should be the end of it, but it won’t be. We seem to do this every few years. In 2009, then-First Lady Michelle Obama made headlines when she “broke protocol” by hugging the late Queen Elizabeth II. A decade later, former president Donald Trump allegedly broke royal protocol so much that lists documenting his many transgressions were compiled. This pales in comparison to that time in 1977 when Jimmy Carter, in his first year in office, kissed the Queen Mother on the lips. “Nobody has done that since my husband died,” she’s reported to have snapped – and rightly so. A hug is one thing; a kiss is quite another.

Hot Lips Carter notwithstanding, the truth is Americans are frequently yet unfairly caricatured as ignorant oafs who galavant around Europe insulting the locals and disrespecting their customs. It isn’t just our leaders who are ridiculed; the “ugly American” – a pejorative lifted from the title of a 1958 book by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer – is a stock character in the minds of far too many people. Google “rude American tourists” and you’ll find lists such as these: “27 offensive and stupid things American tourists did,” “40 ignorant and disrespectful things people witnessed American tourists doing in other countries,” and “seven rude things American tourists do without realizing.”

Boorish, entitled, and ethnocentric, the ugly American represents the worst of American capitalism and imperialism personified in the body of the average tourist.

It is certainly an unfair stereotype. Most traveling Americans are good, decent people who would never knowingly or intentionally offend anyone. I have seen this up close this week as I journey across Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland with a group of undergraduates on a study abroad.

I am also an American, but have spent much of my adult life between the US and UK, and feel equally at home in both. I’ve come to learn the cultural differences and what might offend or upset people. I also happily assume that most British and Irish people aren’t bothered by missteps; they understand Americans are foreigners so may not know their customs, and always seem to accept breaches of etiquette with the good grace and humor I’ve come to find characteristic of both nations.

Perhaps they also know that when it comes to boorish tourists, they may have more in common with their American cousins than they care to admit. Spain had to limit the amount of alcohol served to Brits on holiday because of related antisocial behavior. Meanwhile, Amsterdam launched an ad campaign to dissuade young Brits from coming for sex and drug tourism.

I am not suggesting that “the ugly Brit” is any more accurate than “the ugly American.” Rude behavior abroad is not limited to any one nationality. Just yesterday I saw an Italian man sexually gesture toward and climb a statue of Molly Malone, for example. But of course no nation should be painted by their worst behaved abroad, and no person should assume breeches of protocol or cultural faux pas are a reflection of bad intent.

This brings me back to the undergraduates I am traveling with. Shortly after landing in Dublin yesterday, I found myself reassuring some students that they did not need to overly worry about upsetting the locals simply by mispronouncing words or not knowing something of cultural import. Their concern, though, was touching. Far from being entitled and ready to drink their weight in whiskey in a country where they’re legally allowed to booze, they have displayed a remarkable desire to immerse themselves in the culture, to learn and respect it, and to ensure they do not offend anyone.

I am happy to say that this made me proud. This is a depiction of Americans we do not often see in the media, but it is the kind of attitude I think we should expect from all travelers, no matter their nationality and where they visit. I just hope if I or my fellow American travelers slip up, we will be met with more grace and understanding than critics offered Joe Biden, all for daring to stroll in front of someone.