Protocol Origin for “No Touching” the Queen
Time in partnership with CNN recently answered the question: So where does the rule about not touching the Queen come from?
The sovereigns of England and France at some point in their nations’ long histories claimed a divine right to rule, a right often amplified by titles bestowed by the Pope in Rome. (The Queen, in fact, still has the title Defender of the Faith, an honor given to Henry VIII before he broke with the Catholic Church and established the Church of England.) That touch of holiness once gave the occupant of the throne the supposed ability to cure certain diseases — most famously, scrofula, a terrible skin ailment that was called “the king’s evil.” Thus, the miraculous contact had to be conserved. And so, whether a touch or a nod or a gaze, royal favor, like that of God, is not a subject’s on demand; it is dispensed by kingly prerogative.
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