Mrs Obama caused quite a stir when she and her husband, Barack, broke royal protocol at Buckingham Palace. Soon after winning the 2008 Election, the 44th President was invited to visit the United Kingdom on a state visit.

       The President and his wife, Michelle, were invited to a dinner at Buckingham Palace, a luxury usually afforded to those staying in London.

       According to the Royal Family website, upon meeting a member of the Firm, men should bow from the neck and women should dip into a curtsey.

       The only other option is to perform a formal handshake.

       But Michelle Obama, then 45, placed her arm around Her Majesty.

       However, the Queen did not shy away but rather reciprocated the gesture by opting to put her gloved hand on Michelle’s back.

       In 2018, less than a decade after the now infamous encounter, the ex-FLOTUS spoke about what really happened at that small reception.

       "If I hadn't done the proper thing at Buckingham Palace, I had at least done the human thing… I daresay the Queen was OK with it too, because when I touched her, she pulled closer, resting a gloved hand lightly on the small of my back."

       In her best-selling memoir Becoming, she added that the incident followed on from a short discussion with the Queen.

       “The Queen”, she recalled, “glanced down at the pair of black Jimmy Choos I was wearing.”

       “She shook her head. ‘These shoes are unpleasant, are they not?’

       “She gestured with some frustration at her own black pumps.

       “I confessed then to the Queen that my feet were hurting.

       “She confessed that hers hurt, too.

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       "We looked at each other then with identical expressions, like, when is all this standing around with world leaders going to finally wrap up?

       “And with this, she busted out with a fully charming laugh.”

       Mrs Obama explained when she put her hand on the Queen she was unaware that she was “committing what would be deemed an epic faux pas”.

       Instead, it was an act of instinct.

       "I did what's instinctive to me any time I feel connected to a new person...[We were just] two tired ladies oppressed by our shoes", she added.

       Ashley Pearson, an American journalist, detailed in a biographical documentary on the former First Lady how the encounter helped forge a close working relationship between the leading women on either side of the Atlantic.

       In the hour-long documentary, called Michelle Obama: Forward Motion, Pearson said: "There was a stage later on where Queen Elizabeth invited Michelle to sit in the back of her Range Rover with her.

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       "And when Michelle hesitated, the Queen said to Michelle, 'Have they warned you that you can't do this?'

       "And when she said, 'Yes', the Queen said, 'Rubbish - you can sit wherever you want.'

       "So it seems like, despite everybody in the world freaking out that Michelle put her arm around the Queen, the Queen was charmed - very much so - by Michelle Obama."