Charlotte Tilbury has described how she believes she got royal protocol ‘all wrong’ when she met the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The makeup mogul received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for her significant contributions to the beauty and cosmetics industry, in 2018 – five years after first launching her cosmetic business.
The beauty guru, who adored the late Queen, claimed she made a few protocol errors when receiving her honour at Buckingham Palace at the investiture ceremony.
Speaking to The Telegraph, she explained: ‘All I remember is her incredibly blue eyes and how they sparkled when I said how much I loved corgis.’
Discussing the protocol issue, she continued: ‘My entire family is SO patriotic. I do know I got all the protocol wrong. Couldn’t walk backwards, turned my back on Her Majesty.
‘Afterwards, my mother asked me if the Queen managed to get a word in.’
It is thought that when meeting a royal, the traditional protocol involves a bow for men or a curtsy for women, using formal address like ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Sir/Ma’am,’ and never turning your back on the royal.
However, The Royal Family website states there are ‘no obligatory codes’, with courtesy being the main requirement, and shaking hands is acceptable, meaning the rules may have relaxed over the years.
Charlotte Tilbury revealed how she got royal protocol ‘all wrong’ when meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2018
Describing the experience at the time, the 52-year-old told Elle: ‘I felt full of pride, excitement and a little nervous to meet Her Majesty the Queen.’
Charlotte felt particularly honoured to have had the Queen present her MBE and admitted she would love to give her a makeover.
She continued: ‘I felt especially honoured to have received my MBE from her as she is such an inspiring, incredible, graceful, courageous woman.
‘I would love to do her make-up one day, as she is also my dream beauty icon!’
Charlotte wore a chic black dress accessorised with a hat from couture milliner Victoria Grant for the occasion, calling the accolade a ‘dream come true’.
Her frock was by Alice Temperley, it was the ‘Parachute’ cocktail dress, which Charlotte paired with with a Lara Bohinc belt and Jimmy Choo shoes.
She was accompanied by her husband, George Waud, and her parents, Patsy and Lance, for the ceremony.
Charlotte expressed her admiration for the monarch by launching a lipstick shade named The Queen: the pink shade was part of a broader collection to honour Her Majesty’s 70-year reign during the Platinum Jubilee.
The makeup mogul received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for her significant contributions to the beauty and cosmetics industry, in 2018- five years after first launching her cosmetic business
Speaking to The Telegraph, she explained that she ‘turned her back on the late monarch after receiving the honour
The beauty guru, who adored the late Queen, claimed she made a few protocol errors when receiving her honour at Buckingham Palace at the investiture ceremony
Speaking of her creation she said: ‘I wanted to create a lipstick that honoured the Queen and her enduring style – she is such an inspirational woman, and makes me incredibly proud to be British, and even prouder to have founded a very British brand.
‘This lipstick commemorates the beauty and the brilliance of our magical Queen, and Britain.’
With 26 years’ industry experience, well-connected Tilbury, 45, counts Kate Moss among her inner circle and is close friends with the likes of Edward Enninful and Cara Delevingne.
Her makeup range has been worn by everyone from Amal Clooney to Lady Kitty Spencer, while the Duchess of Sussex is rumoured to be among her fans.
It comes after Charlotte Tilbury topped a list of the top 30 richest beauty entrepreneurs in the UK for 2025.
The entries on the Sunday Times’ inaugural Beauty Rich List have built their wealth from a range of products and services, including skincare; haircare; make-up; bath bombs; and tanning shops.
Charlotte Tilbury, who has worked with supermodels including Bella Hadid, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, dominated the list with an estimated fortune of £350million.
The 52-year-old founded her own brand in 2013 after working as a celebrity make-up artist for over 20 years.
Charlotte Tilbury with supermodel Kate Moss in London, 2013. After working on some 100 Vogue covers, in 2013 she launched her beauty and skincare range in Selfridges, with the collection becoming the retailer’s biggest-ever beauty launch for turnover
The list includes 19 women and 14 men and the entrepreneurs boast a combined estimated wealth of £2.174billion.
Other magnates on the list include John Frieda, known for his Frizz-Ease hair range, and Trinny Woodall, from BBC TV series What Not to Wear, who launched her own make-up and skin care brand Trinny London in 2017.
Robert Watts, who compiled the list, said: ‘There are so many inspiring people with rags to riches stories here.
‘Our Beauty List includes someone who came to the UK as a child refugee, another who was homeless and camping in woodland during his teens.
‘There are others who left school with few or no qualifications to their name, one who was expelled. We have entries who suffered hair loss and very serious skin conditions that led them to create their own treatments which they later started to sell.
‘All these people went on to build successful beauty brands making products people love, creating jobs, contributing decent sums to the public finances and of course making many of us look and feel a lot better along the way.’
Phoebe McDowell, beauty and interiors director of the Sunday Times, added: ‘Beauty is big business, and this inaugural list demonstrates the power of creativity and innovation in the sector.
‘These entrepreneurs have not only built brands but changed the way we think about hair, make-up, and skincare.’
The list excludes individuals and families where a company accounts for less than 25 per cent of their estimated wealth.
