NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> is facing criticism for what some say was a breach of royal protocol during his official state visit to the U.K.\n<\/p>\n As part of his ceremonial welcome on July 8, President Macron and King Charles<\/a> inspected the Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards at Windsor Castle, walking among the troops. However, some pointed out that Macron walked a few steps ahead of the King for much of their procession.\n<\/p>\n “Shouldn\u2019t he know he is not supposed to walk in front of the King? Dude truly thinks he\u2019s Napoleon,” wrote one user on X<\/a>, while others accused the French president of having “no respect, no class.”\n<\/p>\n President Emmanuel Macron and King Charles at Windsor Castle on July 8, 2025.<\/p>\n Richard Pohle – WPA Pool\/Getty<\/p>\n While it is true that royal protocol usually dictates that no one walk in front of the monarch, GB News royal correspondent Cameron Walker explained<\/a> during their livestream that the rules were slightly different in this case.\n<\/p>\n “[It] is perhaps custom that the King, as the host, gives way to the foreign head of state, which is the honored guest at Windsor Castle,” he said.\n<\/p>\n Walker also pointed out that a similar uproar happened in 2018, when Queen Elizabeth welcomed President Donald Trump for a state visit. During their inspection of the guard, Trump walked ahead of the Queen and blocked her as they rounded a corner.<\/p>\n “President Trump was heavily criticized for walking in front of Her Majesty the Queen,” he noted, adding, “There shouldn’t really have been perhaps so much of a hoo-haa with what President Trump did.”\n<\/p>\n Queen Elizabeth II and Donald Trump inspect a Guard of Honor at Windsor Castle on July 13, 2018.<\/p>\n Richard Pohle\u00a0– WPA Pool\/Getty<\/p>\n Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter<\/a> to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n While his royal etiquette may not have been strictly against the rules, some have said the late Queen did find Trump distasteful.\n<\/p>\n In his 2024 book A Voyage Around the Queen<\/a>, biographer Craig Brown writes, “A few weeks after President Trump’s visit, for instance, she confided in one lunch guest that she found him ‘very rude:’ she particularly disliked the way he couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting.”<\/p>\n Macron’s royal etiquette was also called into question at the start of the visit, after he and his wife, Brigitte, disembarked their flight at RAF Northolt on July 8. Prince William<\/a> and Kate Middleton<\/a> greeted them on the tarmac, and Macron met Kate with\u00a0a kiss to her hand<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n