Lewis Hamilton has claimed that the Queen gave him a royal scolding for his poor table manners.

The uncomfortable situation occurred in 2009, when he was invited to a small gathering to celebrate receiving an MBE.

The Formula One racer’s excitement got the better of him — and the Queen herself had to correct him!

“I got invited to a lunch and was sitting next to The Queen,” he told the BBC’s Graham Norton.

“I was excited and started to talk to her but she said, pointing to my left, ‘No, you speak that way first and I’ll speak this way and then I’ll come back to you.’”

Despite the reprimand, Hamilton praised the Queen for being “cool,” adding, “She is a sweet woman and we talked about how she spends her weekends, houses and music. She is really cool.”

Ingrid Seward, a royal specialist, detailed some of the stringent table etiquette standards in her book My Husband and I, The Inside Story of 70 Years of the Royal Marriage.

According to Delish, when it comes to royal meals or other formal occasions, the Office of the Marshal of the Court is in control of all seating arrangements.

“The Queen always chooses who she wants to sit beside, and this most important male guest will be on her right, while Prince Philip has the most interesting female guest on his right,” writes Ingrid Seward.

“Throughout the first and second courses the Queen talks to the person on her right,” Ingrid said about dinner discussion.

“While the pudding and cheeses are being eaten , she turns automatically and chats to the guest on her left.”

Hamilton isn’t the first person to break royal etiquette, and he won’t be the last.

When it comes to royal meals, there are a lot of regulations to follow. Tea time, for example, has its own set of regulations, such as how to handle a tea cup. Myka Meier, the creator of Beaumont Etiquette, previously told PEOPLE that to hold your cup correctly, pinch the top of the handle with your thumb and index finger, while holding the bottom of the handle with your middle finger, which should always be at 3 o’clock.

When it comes to drinking, whether it’s tea or other drinks, try to take sips from the same spot to prevent lipstick traces on the rim.

Michelle Obama, wife of former US President Barack Obama, violated a taboo when she embraced the Queen during a state visit to Britain the same year the racing driver received his MBE.