Shawn Mendes spent 10 "awkward" minutes backstage with Queen Elizabeth II at The Royal Albert Hall.
The Canadian pop star was honoured to perform at the British monarch’s 92nd birthday at the iconic venue in the capital earlier this month, along with the likes of Sir Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, Sting, Shaggy and Anne-Marie.
Before he went on stage, the ‘In My Blood’ hitmaker bumped into Her Majesty, but because she did not spark up a conversation first, which is royal protocol, they were left in "silence" for some time.
Appearing on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ on Wednesday night (16.05.18), the 19-year-old singer shared: "I’m in this backstage area before you go on stage…and I’m standing there waiting to go on stage and the Queen just walks up next to me.
"You’re not allowed to speak to her unless she speaks to you first, so it was like this every — 10 minutes of awkward silence between me and the Queen."
Asked if she even looked at him, Shawn laughed: "She didn’t look at me at all. I looked over a couple of times and I was like, ‘I probably shouldn’t be looking.’"
Unfortunately, Shawn didn’t get to meet Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – who are set to tie the knot in Windsor, England on Saturday (19.05.18) – who were also in attendance, after he chickened out on going up and speaking to them.
He said: "This is going to be my biggest regret forever.
"I was walking down the halls, and I see them in one room. And they’re just talking…and I walked in with this confidence and the second they kind of felt me coming, I just turned around. My body went numb and I was like, ‘I can’t do it, I can’t do it.’
"I didn’t stop. It was like one flow of motion."
Shawn Mendes awkward encounter with Queen Elizabeth
