Meeting new people isn’t always easy, especially if you are a child and the person you are meeting is the Queen of England.
Wednesday morning, Queen Elizabeth II paid a visit to London’s Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, for the opening of a new building on the campus named in her honor. Coram is the oldest children’s charity in the UK, operating since 1739, and has a longstanding relationship with the royal family.
During her tour of the new facility, the queen spent time meeting families and children involved with the center. One such boy, a 9 year old Nathan Grant, was particularly overwhelmed by meeting her majesty, and opted to eject himself from the situation.
As seen in the video, the queen is introduced to the Grant family before gingerly approaching them. Nathan, who had been standing rigidly at attention, sunk to his knees and crawled away before the queen got a word in edgewise. Saving face, the boy’s mother quipped, “That’s his version of a bow,” causing the crowd to break out in laughter. Meanwhile, Nathan continued to crawl toward a nearby door to escape, but not before shouting “bye!” loudly to the room.
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Write to Wilder Davies at wilder.davies@time.com