Royal Family news reveals that there is but one female within The Firm who is exempt from curtsying with a strict protocol being in place for everyone else. Continue reading and we’ll spill the Earl Grey.
Royal Family News: The Precedence to Bew Observed at Court
Royal Family news reveals that, according to Edinburgh Live, a strict protocol requires women in the Royal Family to follow certain rules when it comes to greeting and, after Queen Elizabeth died last year, new rules were established.
Despite the somewhat old-fashioned nature of the bow or the curtsy, royal women are still expected to do it based on a document the late Queen produced in 2005. The document, called the Precedence of the Royal Family to be Observed at Court, lists the females and their seniority to one another.
When Camilla Married Prince William
Camilla, the Queen Consort, was not born into the Royal Family yet members of The Firm still had to curtsy to her when she married the then-Prince Charles in 2005. However, despite long-standing tradition, the Queen changed this precedence due to the circumstances of the marriage between the heir to the throne and his new wife Camilla.
Women who are born into royalty such as Princess Anne, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice were bumped ahead of Camilla and those not born into royalty such as Sophie, Countess of Wessex stayed put.
How the Rules for Curtsy Work
In 2012, a year after Prince William married Kate Middleton, the order was reportedly updated once again to include her. The then-Duchess of Cambridge was expected to curtsy to Princesses Anne, Beatrice, and Eugenie but only if she was alone without her husband, William.
However, even in the presence of the then-Duke of Cambridge, Kate still had to curtsy to Princess Anne as the Princess Royal’s rank never changed. Those rules also applied to Meghan Markle, as she had to curtsy to everyone when out of the presence of her husband Prince Harry. And though she didn’t have to curtsy to Eugenie or Beatrice in the presence of Harry, she still had to curtsy before Princess Royal.
So, Which Royal Female is Exempt from Curtsying?
Curtsying protocol reportedly applies in private too according to a source with The Telegraph who told the outlet, “What they do when there are no outsiders present, I can’t tell, but I suspect they do [curtsy]. They all did with the Queen.”
And now, since Charles ascended the throne last September, in the wake of the Queen’s death, the major rules change bumped Camilla ahead of Anne in the pecking order. All royal women must now curtsy to her. And, as the most senior royal, she no longer needs to curtsy to any other female in the Royal Family.
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