The Queen made the remark in relation to people not being allowed to speak to her unless spoken to first. Christopher Warwick, author of ‘Princess Margaret – A Life of Contrasts’, also claimed certain royal protocol rules are “total nonsense” and “belong in the past”. Mr Warwick told Express.co.uk: “It has been a very long time since royalty were not supposed to be touched spontaneously.

“And it’s rather like the same old you know, these are the same old, almost ancient rules of royal protocol. You didn’t touch, and you didn’t speak to them unless you were spoken to.

“The Queen actually did say ‘well in that case, there would be an awful lot of silent rooms’.

“The Queen doesn’t really stand on ceremony, she’s a very natural, down to earth, modest woman.

“There was even a time where at a film premiere or whatever it might be, the people in the line up, no matter how distinguished, were supposed to face front.

“They weren’t actually supposed to look left or right to actually look at this royal person.

“Absolute nonsense, total nonsense.”

Princess Margaret’s authorised biographer added: “But it harps back to the days of George V and Queen Mary, and that’s where these rules belong now. In the past.

“So any idea that people shouldn’t touch the Queen or shouldn’t speak to the Queen without her speaking first, it’s just a total nonsense really.”

Touching Queen Elizabeth II has long been considered one of the greatest taboos surrounding the British monarch, one of the unwritten rules about how people are expected to behave around the royal family.

Donald Trump appeared to briefly touch the Queen on the back as she rose for his toast at the state banquet earlier in June.

The Queen seemed unperturbed by the unprecedented gesture – after all, Mr Trump had just delivered a grateful tribute to his host. And Mr Trump isn’t the only one to fall foul of this hallowed tradition.

Michelle Obama once put her arm around the Queen and explained herself in her new autobiography, Becoming. She said: “We were briefed on the protocol ahead of time: We’d greet the Royals formally before getting into their vehicle to make the short drive.

“I’d sit in the front next to ninety-four-year-old Prince Philip, who would drive, and Barack would sit next to the Queen in the back seat.

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“After we’d touched down in a field on the palace grounds and said our hellos, however, the Queen abruptly threw a wrench into everything by gesturing for me to join her in the back seat of the Range Rover.

“I froze, trying to remember if anyone had prepared me for this scenario, whether it was more polite to go along with it or to insist that Barack take his proper seat by her side.

“The Queen immediately picked up on my hesitations and was having none of it. Did they give you some rule about this?’ she said, dismissing all the fuss with a wave of her hand.”

Furthermore, when greeting the Queen, men are expected to bow their heads, while women curtsy. But, curtsies are a demure and subtle dip down with one leg behind the other, rather than the grand and aerobic gesture depicted in old films.

During President Trump and First Lady Melania’s last trip to the UK and visit with the Queen, it was noted that neither performed a bow or curtsy respectively.

Although the Queen is reportedly relaxed about this rule, members of her immediate family including Prince William, Prince Charles and Prince Harry are often seen bowing to the Queen as she walks past them at official events.

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