When King Charles was crowned it marked the dawn of a new era for the monarchy and tweaks were made to traditions of bows and curtsies – one woman no longer has to carry out the gesture
When the late Queen Elizabeth II sadly died, the order of seniority within the Royal Family changed – meaning tweaks have been made to the traditions of bows and curtsies.
When it comes to members of the public meeting royals, the official Royal Family website points out that there are “no obligatory codes” when greeting a royal but that “many people wish to observe the traditional forms”. We still often see certain family members bowing to senior royals, particularly on formal occasions – but who bows and who does not has changed.
After King Charles was crowned as Monarch a number of royal status’ changed. New roles and titles allocated for certain family members with Prince William and Kate becoming Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Camilla becoming Queen Consort – after years of being known as the Duchess of Cornwall.
It’s not just titles within the family that have changed, there is now one royal woman who is no longer required to carry out the curtsy.
Charles’ status as monarch means all family members should bow or curtsy to him and with Camilla as Her Majesty, the likes of William, Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be expected to bow or curtsy to her too.
Her seniority in the Royal Family also means that Camilla is no longer required to curtsy to anyone. Hello! reports she may still carry out the gesture when greeting foreign monarchs. As a Duchess, Camilla was required to curtsy to the Queen and to all the blood Princesses – Princess Anne, Princess Beatrice, and Princes Eugenie – unless she was accompanied by Charles. But this is no longer the case; now the Monarch outranks them.
After Prince William and Kate got married in 2011, it was reported that Queen Elizabeth updated the Order of Precedence document. This meant that the women marrying into the family would still curtsy to ‘blood Princesses’ if their husbands are not present.
This means that Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Meghan, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, would still be required to curtsy to the Princesses in the family who were born royal.
Before the death of the late Queen, royals were often seen bowing or curtsying in public to her at events such as Christmas Day, Easter or Royal Ascot. Both Kate and Meghan gave deep curtsies to the Queen when greeting her on their respective wedding days in 2011 and 2018. If royals don’t perform the gesture, it was probably because they had seen the monarch earlier in the day and had been formally greeted in private.
The official Royal Family websites advises that for men to bow is via a neck bow “from the head only” and for women, it is a “small curtsy” – although the site points out other people “simply to shake hands in the usual way”. When greeting the King or Queen Consort, the correct formal address is “Your Majesty”, and subsequently “Sir” for the King or “Ma’am” pronounced so it rhymes with jam for the Queen.
The website adds: “For male members of the Royal Family the same rules apply, with the title used in the first instance being ‘Your Royal Highness’ and subsequently ‘Sir’. For other female members of the Royal Family, the first address is conventionally ‘Your Royal Highness’ and subsequently ‘Ma’am’.”
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