One Royal Fan's Gift Caused Queen Elizabeth II to Make a Rare Faux Pas in Front of a Crowd at Eton College

The incident was caught on camera.

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Queen Elizabeth wears a lilac coat and matching hat with a green feather and drops a bouquet given to her by a royal fan in 2010 at Eton
(Image credit: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images/DAVID PARKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Queen Elizabeth II's professionalism continues to be talked about, particularly as the former monarch set the stage for the modern Royal Family. Despite appearing to be practically perfect in every way, the late Queen occasionally made mistakes. Case in point: one royal fan's gift caused her to make an extremely rare faux pas, and the moment was captured on camera.

On May 27, 2010, Queen Elizabeth visited Eton College to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Eton Combined Cadet Force. The Queen met with royal fans who'd gathered to greet her, including one young girl who handed the monarch a bunch of flowers.

Queen Elizabeth wears a lilac coat and matching hat with a green feather and drops a bouquet given to her by a royal fan in 2010 at Eton

Queen Elizabeth II receives a bouquet from a young royal fan.

(Image credit: DAVID PARKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Unfortunately, Elizabeth wasn't able to grip the bouquet, and the flowers appeared to slip through her fingers. A royal aide quickly rushed to assist the monarch by picking up the gift, but not before photographers captured the moment.

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Queen Elizabeth wears a lilac coat and matching hat with a green feather and drops a bouquet given to her by a royal fan in 2010 at Eton

Queen Elizabeth II accidentally dropping the bouquet.

(Image credit: DAVID PARKER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Obviously, Queen Elizabeth rarely made mistakes in public. As a result, dropping the royal fan's bouquet during a 2010 visit to Eton College was quite exceptional. As always, however, the late monarch handled the moment with grace, and if anything, seeing her make even a tiny faux pas only served to confirm her humanity.

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Amy Mackelden
Amy Mackelden
Weekend Editor

Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.