Dec 13, 2014 2 min read

The English monarch can no longer order armies into battle. That task is now left to the elected government of Britain. In fact, there’s little that the English royal family does that isn’t entirely ceremonial. They’re less symbols of majesty than continuity. If the British public continues to support the institution – and there’s no sign a shift in thinking is imminent – then who are we to argue?

But we were somewhat amused by the hullabaloo that greeted the fact that basketball superstar LeBron James – gasp! – put his beefy arm around the shoulder of Kate Middleton following an NBA game she and her husband, Prince William, attended in New York last week.

After all, one is not supposed to touch the royals. It’s an egregious breach of protocol.

If James is feeling any embarrassment, he can rest assured that he is not alone. First Lady Michelle Obama partially embraced Queen Elizabeth II in 2009, which caused some raised eyebrows, and Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating was given the nickname the “Lizard of Oz” when he – we hope you’re seated – put his hand on the queen’s back when she was going through a receiving line in the Land Down Under back in 1992.

Oh, the humanity!

Then there was former Beatle Paul McCartney, who, at one event, extended his hand to the queen first. See, it’s supposed to be the other way around.

But, really, she shouldn’t have minded. Has she ever written a song as good as “Yesterday” or “Hey Jude”?