King Charles Broke Traditionally Held Royal Protocol In a Huge Way This Week In a Move That His Mother Queen Elizabeth Would “Never” Have Allowed During Her Reign
The shift in royal protocol is reflective of Charles’ more \201cchilled-out approach.\201d


Royal protocol is ever-evolving—take selfies, for example, which were once all but banned, but now happen with regularity between royal family members and the public. The monarch sets the tone when it comes to royal protocol—Queen Elizabeth had guidelines she went by, and now, King Charles has his own.
The King, seen here in Guernsey this week, is setting his own rules when it comes to royal protocol.
One manner in which the King has broken royal protocol of yesteryear? Unexpectedly, with a kiss. Earlier this week, Charles and Queen Camilla visited the Channel Islands, where they stopped by the St. Peter Port seafront and mingled with well-wishers, Bustle reports. In a video posted on X by the BBC, “Charles is seen exchanging words with an elderly woman in the crowd,” Bustle writes. “In a rare move, the King then offers his cheek to the woman.” She was later identified as 91-year-old Kathleen Moriarty—who proceeded to kiss the King.
“I said to him, ‘Please, can I give you a kiss?’” she told the BBC after the exchange. “And he gives me his cheek. I just did it! I didn’t plan it, and I enjoyed it. He’s lovely. It was very nice. I am pleased. I thought if all these young dolly birds can do it, this old lady can!”
The King is much more tactile with well-wishers than his mother, Queen Elizabeth, was during her long royal career.
Though kissing the monarch is certainly unusual, this actually isn’t the first time Charles has allowed himself to be kissed during a royal engagement. Shortly after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in September 2022, the new King greeted well-wishers outside of Buckingham Palace who came to pay their respects. In footage shared by CNN, a well-wisher named Jenny Assiminios spoke briefly to Charles before planting a kiss on his cheek. “I have seen him in front of me,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it, and I said to him, ‘May I kiss you?’ He said, ‘Well, yes,’ so I grabbed him, and I was very happy.” She later told CNN “Thank you, God, for letting me see him and kiss him.”
The new King is kissed by a well-wisher in September 2022.
The official royal family website says of royal protocol that “There are no obligatory codes of behavior” when meeting the King or Queen, but members of the public—as well as the royal family themselves—usually “wish to observe the traditional forms,” which, for men, include a neck bow from the head only, and for women, a small curtsy; shaking hands with a monarch “in the usual way” is also commonplace, it adds.
When Charles was kissed earlier this week, he “took it in stride, shaking Kathleen’s hand and giving her a wry smile,” The Daily Mail’s Natasha Livingstone reports, adding “For a 75-year-old undergoing cancer treatment, it’s a heartening sign that he is on the mend.”
The King and Queen have had a busy week, with a two-day visit to the Channel Islands, the State Opening of Parliament, and Camilla's 77th birthday.
Charles made his return to public facing royal duties on April 30, after nearly three months away.
But Livingstone correctly pointed out that “an act of such intimacy may have provoked a very different response during the reign of the late Queen.” Royal biographers like Andrew Morton have said Her late Majesty would “never” have allowed a member of the public to kiss her, noting that she had a “different kind of style” from her son, one Livingstone calls “informal formality,” which is reflective of “his chilled-out approach to enthusiastic glad-handing,” she wrote. “So is the new edict ‘You may now kiss…the King?’”
Stay In The Know
Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.
-
The Power Tailoring Trend Has Selena Gomez Following Suit
Hollywood's suiting streak continues.
-
King Charles Offers 101-Year-Old Man Some Hilarious Advice For Staying Young
It's worth a shot.
-
"It Really Upsets Me Seeing Kids Torn From Their Families": Women on the Frontlines of the Immigration Protests in L.A.
'Marie Claire' sent photojournalist Allison Lau to capture the women driving the fight against the Trump administration’s deportation raids.
-
King Charles Offers 101-Year-Old Man Some Hilarious Advice For Staying Young
It's worth a shot.
-
Organic Food Champion King Charles Reveals His Love For Unusual Two-Ingredient Snack
Kingly cravings hit different.
-
King Charles Is Set to Break Royal Tradition After News He's "Unlikely" to Follow in Queen Elizabeth's Footsteps
It will be a royal first.
-
Duchess Sophie Curtsies So Low to King Charles That She Loses Her On-Trend Wedges at Flower Show
Royal job hazards.
-
Why King Charles Will Be "Forced" to Skip One Trooping the Colour Tradition in 2025 and "Leave It Behind Forever"
It's the end of an era.
-
King Charles Just Revealed He's a Swiftie by Dropping the Perfect Taylor Swift Reference in His Latest Instagram Post
We see you, London Boy.
-
King Charles Drives a Car Powered on Cheese and Wine, But Has Swapped It For This Luxe Update
A new vehicle has joined the monarch's vintage Aston Martin convertible.
-
King Charles Is Keeping These Royals "On Ice" to Pitch In When Prince William Becomes King
"I think it would be wonderful, and I think it will happen."