The eldest daughter of former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has been with her British boyfriend since 2017. Malia Obama's beau, Rory Farquharson, has a special link to the royal family.
Farquharson, who belongs to a well-established family in the U.K., has a cousin named Andrew Farquharson who worked as the Master of the Household in Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth's official residence. The cousin also worked at Clarence House, Prince Charles' official home, for close to 10 years.
As the Master of Household, Andrew also took care of the massive food budget for Buckingham Palace, as it hosts various royal events. He also served the Queen on her holiday home in Balmoral.
According to Daily Express, Prince Charles actually "poached" Andrew from his mother's household. Nevertheless, the Queen had so much appreciation for Andrew's work habits that he was awarded the Royal Victorian Order. He retired from serving the royal family in 2009.
Meanwhile, Rory's parents are both working in the financial industry. His father is the CEO of a London investment firm while his mother is an accountant. The Daily Express described the Faquharson family as millionaires.
Malia met Rory in school at Harvard. His cousin Andrew told the Daily Mail in 2017 that he's pretty sure his young cousin is enjoying his life in the States. However, Andrew admitted that he hasn't heard from Rory or his parents in a while. Still, he believes that Malia is a nice girl and a good match for Rory, whom Andrew described as a well-grounded nice boy.
Rory and Malia once spent a holiday in Islington with his parents during a break from school. The former first daughter and her boyfriend kept a low profile during their trip and observers said that the two were dressed down and laid back as they enjoyed their school break. Some also said that few people recognized that they had a daughter of a U.S. president in their midst.
Meanwhile, Malia's parents have met the royal family many times in the past while they were living in the White House and traveling to different countries to meet heads of states.
Michelle actually revealed that she broke royal protocol when she met Queen Elizabeth for the first time in 2009. She hugged Her Majesty when she was supposed to be just shaking her hands.
However, the former First Lady said that she wouldn't change anything if she could get a do-over of that first meeting. She said it was instinct that made her affectionally approach the Queen as she felt connected to her. Michelle said that Queen Elizabeth seemed fine with it as well.
