If you had to think of the most famous icons to have ever lived, it’s quite likely you’d list Queen Elizabeth the Second and Marilyn Monroe. Both world figures for completely different reasons, it’s undeniable that both women are truly iconic. But did you know that the pair both crossed paths? It’s such a tale that it’s even been covered in a book, When Marilyn Met The Queen, by Michelle Morgan.
When did the Queen meet Marilyn Monroe?
The actress met the Queen way back in 1956, along with her new husband Arthur Miller, Marilyn was spending four months in the UK to shoot her latest film, The Prince and the Showgirl, co-starring Sir Laurence Olivier.
And like many celebrities do nowadays, it was at a fancy event where Marilyn met the Queen, at the Royal Command Performance at the Empire Theatre in London's Leicester Square. And Marilyn had the chance to meet her with a load of other film stars.
Marilyn might have been one of the most famous women in the world herself, but apparently she was so nervous meeting the Queen that she bit off her lipstick. It was something that the Queen reportedly even noticed, later telling a friend that she ‘felt sorry for her’.
After meeting the Queen, Marilyn reportedly told journalists waiting outside about how kind the monarch was. ‘The Queen is very warm-hearted,’ Marilyn said, according to the book. _‘_She radiates sweetness. She asked how I liked living in Windsor, and I said, “What!” And she said that as I lived in Englefield Green, near to Windsor, we were neighbors. So, I told her that Arthur and I went on bicycle rides in the park.’
The appreciation was, apparently, mutual as a UK magazine article a few years time said that the Queen became obsessed with Marilyn after meeting her. ‘The article said that after the Royal Command Performance in 1956, the Queen became fascinated with Marilyn and watched every one of her movies,’ She apparently told the friend, 'I thought Miss Monroe was a very sweet person. But I felt sorry for her, because she was so nervous that she had licked all of her lipstick off.' We can't blame Marilyn, tbh - we think we'd be a tiny bit nervous meeting the Queen.
What dress did Marilyn Monroe wear to meet the Queen?
It's fair to say Marilyn was always a fashion rule breaker - and meeting the Queen was no different, as she completely broke protocol to wear a more revealing dress. Apparently, women at the event were asked to 'dress in a suitable manner to meet royalty — for example, they should not wear gowns that were so low-cut that they showed too much cleavage'. Marilyn opted for a low-cut golden dress which definitely didn't pass that rule, but she still looked amazing.