Bowing and Curtseying


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MARG said:
There are photos in the DM and it appears that neither Beatrice nor Eugenie curtsey as I would expect them to be on the way up as Catherine is at full bend. They stand quite straight smiling at the Queen.
While we saw the Wessex family pay their respects, it is impossible to see if Andrew, Anne, Tim, Peter and Autumn pay their respects or not.

Regardless, everybody seems in really good spirits!
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Some members of the royal family don't bow or curtsey all the time. I noticed this a while back.
 
I believe Diana, Princess of Wales had to curtsy to The Princess Anne, as Anne was upset that she had to bow to Diana in front of Charles.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Baroness Carrickfergus has to curtsy to Anne, Alexandra, Beatrice, Eugenie, Louise when William is not there, as they are blood princesses. Anne would never bow to Kate even if William is around, as she feels that she is in higher order of British princesses.
 
They don't have to do it all the time. Just when they see the Queen and Philip for the first time. It's similar to when you greet a royal. It's your Royal Highness or your Majesty first time then Ma'am and Sir after
 
Westfield Bakery said:
I believe Diana, Princess of Wales had to curtsy to The Princess Anne, as Anne was upset that she had to bow to Diana in front of Charles.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Baroness Carrickfergus has to curtsy to Anne, Alexandra, Beatrice, Eugenie, Louise when William is not there, as they are blood princesses. Anne would never bow to Kate even if William is around, as she feels that she is in higher order of British princesses.
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Young members of the royal family don't bow and curtsey to each other. They only do this for The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.
 
Dman said:
Young members of the royal family don't bow and curtsey to each other. They only do this for The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.
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Are you sure? They should to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, The Princess Royal, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex and Princess Alexandra.
 
Westfield Bakery said:
I believe Diana, Princess of Wales had to curtsy to The Princess Anne, as Anne was upset that she had to bow to Diana in front of Charles.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Baroness Carrickfergus has to curtsy to Anne, Alexandra, Beatrice, Eugenie, Louise when William is not there, as they are blood princesses. Anne would never bow to Kate even if William is around, as she feels that she is in higher order of British princesses.
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You are confusing precedence with curtseying.

Two different things.

Kate doesn't curtsey to other princesses in private or in public. She curtseys to The Queen as the monarch and Philip as the Consort of the Monarch.

She does give way to born princesses, in private situations, when there are no men present but she doesn't curtsey to them.
 
Westfield Bakery said:
I believe Diana, Princess of Wales had to curtsy to The Princess Anne, as Anne was upset that she had to bow to Diana in front of Charles.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Baroness Carrickfergus has to curtsy to Anne, Alexandra, Beatrice, Eugenie, Louise when William is not there, as they are blood princesses. Anne would never bow to Kate even if William is around, as she feels that she is in higher order of British princesses.
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You only bow to someone if a higher rank. And that is the queen and Prince Philip.

You are talking about precedence. That doesn't refer to bowing or not. But things like seating, position entering and such.

They only bow the first time they see the queen that day. It is very possible the Yorks had already seen their grabdparents. Beatrice and Eugenie are often seen curtsying as is Autumn, yet none did here.
 
sarahedwards2 said:
I wonder how young the Royals are when they learn to bow/curtsy? Does Charlotte already know how?


Sent from my iPod touch using The Royals Community
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I'm not sure but there was a cute little quote a number of years ago about Lady Louise learning how to curtsy to a statue of Queen Victoria outside the nursery in Sandringham and she was about 3/4. I don't know if there is a set age that they have to curtsy but here is Eugenie at about 5/6 doing to her great granny Eugenie.

I have only seen Louise doing it in in public over the last couple of years as well.

In the video you can see Louise curtsy once her mum has done it and you can also see James bow his head.
 
Google the youtube of Diana curtseying to this same couple if you want to see a low curtsey.


LaRae
 
:previous:

Exactly. Diana Spencer at nearly six feet tall in height curtsying low to the very small Emperor and Empress of Japan with the grace and aplomb of a dancer...now that lady knew how it was done!;)
 
She was very graceful considering her height and build (Kate is almost her same height but appears smaller due to body shape/bone structure). I'm guessing the ballet training helped!

Anyway she had one of the best curtsey's.


LaRae
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
Exactly. Diana Spencer at nearly six feet tall in height curtsying low to the very small Emperor and Empress of Japan with the grace and aplomb of a dancer...now that lady knew how it was done!;)
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Important not to overstate. Diana was 5'10". Victoria is 5'8". Emperor Akihito is 5'5". :flowers:

P.S. I did look. ;) In the video I saw, Diana was wearing what looked liked 3" heels. So she accentuated her height with them. Interesting. Same with Victoria, so Diana was at 6'1" and Victoria at 5'11". Diana also did the curtsey with blinding speed, less stress on the legs I would guess. With Victoria it's a snapshot so no way to tell how fast or slow she was delivering it.
 
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Thanks Lady Nimue, but since 5'10 inches is indeed closer to 6 feet than otherwise, so I don't think it was really an overstatement.

In any case both the late Princess of Wales and the current CP of Sweden indeed curtsy very gracefully. It's a skill I admire!
 
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Moonmaiden23 said:
Thanks Lady Nimue, but since 5'10 inches is indeed closer to 6 feet than otherwise, so I don't think it was really an overstatement.
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If you consider 5'10" as 'almost 6', then Victoria at 5'11" (in heels) is also 'almost 6'. :flowers: Same difference, no difference.
 
My point was that both women curtsy(ed) with perfection. With heels or without, a naturally very tall long legged woman executing something so tricky is even more admirable.
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
My point was that both women curtsy(ed) with perfection. With heels or without, a naturally very tall long legged woman executing something so tricky is even more admirable.
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:cool: Okay. But you do know that the absolutely best curtsy-er is the Countess of Wessex. Hands down. ;) Just saying. :p

P.S. Catherine does a nice job, too.
 
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Hi Lady Nimue...I will have to look up the Countess of Wessex on youtube...I can't say I've noticed her curtsies!

Sadly I have to disagree about the Duchess of Cambridge. I find her quick, barely there little bobs among the least impressive and most awkward of all.:sad:
 
:previous: Okay. :wub: You are probably a better judge than I am. ;)
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
Hi Lady Nimue...I will have to look up the Countess of Wessex on youtube...I can't say I've noticed her curtsies!

Sadly I have to disagree about the Duchess of Cambridge. I find her quick, barely there little bobs among the least impressive and most awkward of all.:sad:
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I think people are overly impressed by the very low executed curtsies and seem to think the little bobs are clumsy and awkward. I think we have to remember that when The Queen was Princess Elizabeth, she too did very little bobs and has been said to not be impressed by very deep curtsies. In fact she's known to make fun of those who go too low. She surly did so to the late PM Margaret Thatcher.

Bows and curtsies are pretty much down to the comfort and liking to the person who's executing them.
 
I like the overall effect...a flowing, graceful, well-executed dip. I agree that an exaggerated low curtsy looks silly and theatrical. :lol:

But from what I've seen, Kate Cambridge is simply not one of the better ones. She just seems awkward and self-conscious.

The best I have noticed are the two Swedish princesses(CP Victoria and Princess Madeleine), the late Diana Princess of Wales, HGD Stephanie of Luxembourg, Mary of Denmark and yes Lady Nimue is right about Sophie Wessex.

She seems born to it!

ETA: The less said about the late Lady Thatcher by me the better. But it doesn't surprise me one bit that she made a fool out of herself before the queen, attempting a grand curtsy!
 
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Catherine's curtsey is textbook. Her short 'bob' is reminiscent of HMQ with her curtsey.

I think a lot of royal women are influenced by movies and cinema, and their curtsey reflects this flair for the dramatic.

A proper curtsey, a woman should briefly bend the knees with one foot forward. The move should create a distinct bobbing movement, with the upper body kept straight and should be repeated when the member of the Royal family leaves.

Debretts advice on how to bow and curtsey correctly - Telegraph
 
One of the members of the BRF (maybe it's Autumn or one of the York girls) has a very weird leg position when they curtsey. It would probably be okay if they had a long dress on but it's odd when you can see the legs.

Diana did speed curtsies! lol

I sometimes wonder at the exaggerated slow type..perhaps a bit of insult intended when done as such.


LaRae
 
:previous: I appreciate that you think the DoC's curtsy is "textbook" Rudolph but my opinion is that I have seen much, much better from several of her peers.

In one particularly awkward photo poor Kate's legs were turned out at angles and reminded me of a frog. :ohmy: Maybe she will grow into it with time like the Countess of Wessex.
 
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I liked Diana's, but to be honest a lot of those low curtsies are done to look cute. Nothing wrong with looking cute, but they can look painful at the same time. Us guys have it easy though. A quick bow of the head and done. None of it was meant to look like you're doing lunges in a gym.
 
I get the distinct feeling that when I see someone do a very low, formal curtsy that I'm watching a scene out of The King and I. To me, it seems very overdone. The quick bobs of respect are perfect for me.

Then again, no matter what kind of curtsy I'd ever attempt, I'd end up flat on my face.
 
Moonmaiden23 said:
:previous: I appreciate that you think the DoC's curtsy is "textbook" Rudolph but my opinion is that I have seen much, much better from several of her peers.

In one particularly awkward photo poor Kate's legs were turned out at angles and reminded me of a frog. :ohmy: Maybe she will grow into it with time like the Countess of Wessex.
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A proper curtsey is rare. You're probably used to seeing it done wrong so many times, that it's difficult to recognise when done properly.

Bend the knees, back straight, and a distinct bob.
 
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