Comments from feedback form - "If you watch the video, you wo..."
He was in the middle of his speech, and the band started playing over him. Why should he have to stop his speech because the band screwed up their timing?
Because it's not just any song; it's an anthem that represents the Queen and all of her subjects. Would Obama have talked over the Star Spangled Banner? I think not.
Having said that, I agree that the band also was at fault. Perhaps the banquet organizers should take extra precautions to make sure this doesn't happen again.
If Saturday Night Live didn't end their season, I could imagine this being the basis of a skit this weekend (except the guy who plays the queen also plays Obama... urk...) Anyways, every time Obama says "queen" a group of guests pulls out instruments to start playing the British anthem, until we have multiple bands playing over each other (and of course, playing over Obama). The final time, it's their Trump impersonator who starts playing, at which Obama pauses, looks at the jammin' Trump in bewilderment, and then continues, which gets Trump to stop playing and start criticizing him, which turns into a list of his faults, ending with, "And Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
haha that sounds like it would be hilarious! Have you seen the SNL skit depicting the royal engagement? Fred Armisen does a great impression of the Queen!
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/visiting-the-queen/1261515/
Because it's common courtesy to shut-up and stand at attention while the anthem of your host nation is playing. It's called respect, something that was lacking on this ocassion.
Respect goes both ways, of course: it's also "common courtesy" not to start playing loud music in the middle of a sentence being delivered to a state event by a head of state. Seems to me everybody involved was trying, in good faith, to be respectful and follow protocol, and things got deeply confused and entered territory with improbably conflicting protocols. By default, cultural instincts would then guide on-the-spot reactions to the conflict. Unsurprisingly, people attuned to different cultures would have different on-the-spot reactions.
The band did not just start playing at random... They received their que. Most people give the same simple toast, "To the Queen!" When the band hears this, they play. The President was ignorant enough of protocol to put those words into the middle of his speech. He was wrong. Period, plain and simple. However... this is not truly the President's fault. It's the fault of his handlers.