Diplomatic Oops! Embarrassing state-visit blunders

Known for her no-nonsense approach, German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn't seem like she'd be susceptible to cheap flattery, so the song choice for welcoming her in Senegal was a bit dubious: "Schöne Maid, hast du heut' für mich Zeit?" ("beautiful maid, do you have time for me today?"), a cheesy pop hit. Whatever his protocol team was thinking, President Macky Sall got lucky: Merkel indulged him.

The list of embarrassments that have occurred during foreign visits is long. US President Donald Trump and the British Royal Family feature often. So what happens when the two collide? Double trouble! In 2018, in a combination of bad manners and a break of protocol, Trump kept the monarch waiting 12 minutes in the sun and then walked faster than her at the parade — not amusing!

Theresa May is plagued by Brexit in her home country. So perhaps she could be forgiven for seizing the moment to let loose on the dance floor during a recent visit to South Africa. But perhaps not. The backlash against the prime minister's boogie was brutal: The British tabloid press went to town ridiculing May's stiff jive, some even nicknaming it the "Maybot."

But even the famously elegant French are not immune from blunders. French President Emmanuel Macron raised eyebrows when he described the wife of the then-Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in May 2018 as "delicious." Now that's what you call a faux pas! In defense of Macron, it should be noted that the French word "delicieux" can also mean "delightful."

The easiest way to screw up a state visit: inappropriate attire. In an attempt to increase his popularity, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau donned traditional robes in India in March 2018. The attempt to pay his cultural respects backfired and a storm of mockery broke out on social media. In future, Trudeau will probably leave the Bollywood dress-ups for the package-holiday tourists.

Michelle Obama, wife of the then-US president Barack Obama's friendly manner to Queen Elizabeth II went a step too far when the former first lady put her arm on the royal's shoulder in 2009. Touching the British monarch is strictly forbidden unless she offers her hand and this tactile gesture was a serious breach of protocol that made headlines around the world.

The devil is in the detail. The person responsible for the lectern when the British Queen visited the US in 1991 probably could have had a better grasp of this idiom. During the change of speaker from George H. Bush at a towering 1.8-meters (6-feet) tall to the rather petite Elizabeth II, someone, unfortunately, forgot to lower the lectern. Or to somehow raise the royal.

Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, does not always see protocol as of particular importance. Many of his gaffes are legendary. In 1997, he welcomed then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl with "Hello, Herr Reichskanzler," as if the Nazi Third Reich was still the order of the day. In Australia in 2002, he asked an Indigenous Australian whether they still "throw spears." Any laughter was muffled.

Sometimes all you can do is try to keep your cool. And in 1995 former German President Roman Herzog did just that on a trip to Brazil. To welcome the audience, the orchestra played the old East German song "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" ("Risen from Ruins") instead of the German national anthem — some five years after German reunification. Herzog did not seem to mind too much.

At the 2011 G20 summit, French and US Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama insulted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what they thought was a private conversation. One little issue: Their mikes were still on. Some members of the press heard Sarkozy say, "I cannot bear him. He's a liar." Obama replied, "You are fed up with him, but I have to deal with him more often than you do."