Prince Charles’s Tea Blunder Left Reagan Horrified

Prince Charles once put U.S. President Ronald Reagan in an awkward position at the White House — simply because he refused to drink a cup of tea with the tea bag still inside.

In 1981, when Charles was 32 and Reagan was 70, the then-Prince of Wales visited Washington and met with the American president in the Oval Office.

An attempt to treat the British guest to a traditional drink unexpectedly turned into an awkward moment: White House staff served the tea the American way — with the tea bag left directly in the cup. Apparently, Charles had no idea what to do with it.

David Charter, author of Royal Audience: 70 Years, 13 Presidents – One Queen's Special Relationship with America, said Reagan was “horrified” when he noticed that his guest was not drinking the tea.

“Ronald Reagan was horrified when he invited Prince Charles into the Oval Office and a cup of tea was brought to him with the tea bag still inside. He saw that he wasn’t drinking the tea and thought he had committed a terrible blunder,” Charter said.

According to the author, it was merely a “little blunder” that ultimately helped the British and Americans understand each other a little better.

Reagan later recorded the awkward episode in his diary following their meeting on May 1.

“Charles. Very nice man. Staff brought him tea — horror of horrors, they served it our way, with the tea bag in the cup. Finally it dawned on me that he was just holding the cup and then put it down on the table. I didn’t know what to do. Mike escorted him back to the White House and apologized. The Prince said, ‘I didn’t know what to do with it,’” Reagan wrote.

Reagan served as U.S. president from 1981 to 1989. He died in 2004 at the age of 93.