Soldier sits down after meeting Queen Elizabeth

A soldier sparked confusion when he sat on the floor seconds after being introduced to Queen Elizabeth.

Sgt Rusiate Bolavucu appeared to be insulting the monarch by taking a seat immediately after meeting her in Cumbria, north west England, but the Fijian fighter was in fact following a tradition from his South Pacific homeland which the queen acknowledged by smiling at his mark of respect.

Rusiate – who is from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster Regiment and has just returned from Afghanistan – is quoted by the Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: ”It is a cultural thing for people from Fiji to do when they meet a head of state. It is a way of showing respect.

”The queen has been to Fiji so she knows about it, so she smiled when she saw what I was doing.”

But there were no such traditions on show yesterday morning (18.07.13) when the queen met England and Australia cricketers on the first day of the second Ashes Test match series.

Elizabeth was introduced to the England and Australia players by their respective captains Alistair Cook and Michael Clarke at Lord’s in St John’s Wood, north west London.