- The British royal family is known for having all kinds of rules, protocols, and etiquette procedures to follow.
- When she married Prince Harry and joined the royal family, Meghan Markle was tasked with learning all of those rules.
- According to royal expert and commentator Omid Scobie, one of the most complicated sets of rules Meghan had to memorize involved curtsy etiquette. Scobie explained the ins and outs of royal curtsy rules in a new interview with Katie Couric.
Think marrying into literal royalty sounds like a rom-com fairytale come to life? Well, the real-life version includes way more homework than Disney princesses ever seem to go through.
Meghan Markle learned that firsthand when she married Prince Harry and had to memorize a bonkers list of royal etiquette rules, including some seriously complicated curtsying protocol.
In a new interview with Katie Couric, royal expert and commentator Omid Scobie broke down the way family hierarchy impacts who curtsies to whom. Here's how Scobie explains it:
Those traditions can be quite hard to follow for us Brits too! Take hierarchy. Meghan has to curtsy to members of the royal family that are more senior than Harry, including The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, William and Kate. Sounds easy enough, right? But this is where it gets confusing, as the order of succession also has nothing to do with it. For example, if Harry is also in the room then Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie must curtsy for Meghan. But if he’s not, then she must do it for them. I could list several more of these but our heads will start to spin!
So basically: Anyone senior to Harry (like the Queen, for an obvious example), Meghan has to curtsy to, all of the time. But, when it comes to royals who are junior to Harry, it all depends on if he's in the room too. If he is, Meghan is essentially elevated to his rank. If he's not, she has to bow down.
Head spinning? Mine too.
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