Royal Protocol and Etiquette

[Lord Williams]

How much royal etiquette is there and can you tell me?

 

[Dennism]

The first rule of Royal Etiquette is - you do not talk about Royal Etiquette. The second rule of Royal Etiquette is - you DO NOT talk about Royal Etiquette.

Sorry. I could not resist. There must be a lot of it and a lot of it will be different from country to country. The customs of the country itself do not play a minor part as well.

 

[bct88]

I do know that in England, you do not speak unless you are spoken to. And do not let any part of yourself touch Her Majesty.

 

[micas]

That apen in Spain to. We just talk with some1 from royal if they speak to you.
Letizia broke that rule :grrr:

 

[Duchess Sophie]

Great avatar Micas!!!

On-topic: I don't know exactly about the protocol in the Netherlands, I hope Mr. Google can help

 

[micas]

:grrr: Thanks, i stay you like my avarat.............

Is a rul that belive existe in all of then. The person always have to walk 2 steps back to the Queen and the King. In resume 2 stepts biaynd them and never can turne the bakcs from them.

 

[micas]

If you are a regular person, we have to do that with any member from reoyal

 

[mgrant]

Hi!

I think this is a great topic and like Dennism says, it will vary from country to country. Please, by all means, share any more rules of royal etiquette that you know with the rest of us

 

[tiaraprin]

The protocol on meeting a British royal is as follows:

Do not offer your hand to the Royal until they do so.

If you are not a British Citizen, you do not have to curtsy or bow--your choice.

Do not speak to the Royal until they address you.

At the first addressing of the Royal in question you say Your Majesty or Your Royal Highness. After that it is Sir or Ma'am.

Do not attempt getting an autograph--very declasse!

Do not attempt to touch the royal in any other way i.e. a hug, kiss. Very Tacky. The Queen Mum never got over Jimmy Carter hugging her and giving her a kiss!!

If you are a British Citizen or just wish to--Curtsy or bow when the Royal moves on.

 

[hrhcp]

In England, I hear, you only start to eas when the Queen starts. And the food is removed when the Queen finishes. SO you better eat fast.

 

[tiaraprin]

Originally posted by King Christian@May 28th, 2004 - 10:44 pm
In England, I hear, you only start to eas when the Queen starts. And the food is removed when the Queen finishes. SO you better eat fast.

that is true--but the Queen is very considerate. She keeps a salad next to her as a prop so other guests can finish their meals. The one who never finishes on time is Prince Charles and the Queen has just given up on him!

 

[hrhcp]

oops ... I think I made a mistake .... it was Princess Margaret - the Queen's sister - who it was that wasn't a good host, eating wise.

 

[tiaraprin]

Originally posted by King Christian@May 28th, 2004 - 11:07 pm
oops ... I think I made a mistake .... it was Princess Margaret - the Queen's sister - who it was that wasn't a good host, eating wise.

you learn fast King Christian!! Bravo!! Margaret was a spoiled brat!!

 

[yvr girl]

Also, royalty arrives last - don't be late. They also leave first. This used to be a problem with Princess Margaret. She was quite a party girl, and a night owl. People would get worn out waiting for her to leave. She was also quite a stickler for protocol.

Junior royalty (non-monarchs or heads of state) must bow or curtsey to senior royalty.

One should not sit while a member of a royal family is standing (unless you are infirm.)

 

[carlota]

royal ettiquete in england seems to be very serious and quite antique...

general tips:
even in informal situations, never eat chewing gum.
when you are with a junior or senior royal if you are invited something to drink, you should NEVER ask for any drink with alcohol. (that rule was broken in felipe's and letizia's wedding, when at the end of the dinner they invited their intimate friends with a bar full of alcoholic drinks. however, letizia didn't drink...)
never never never smoke in front of a royal.

 

[micas]

Originally posted by tiaraprin+May 28th, 2004 - 10:59 pm--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (tiaraprin @ May 28th, 2004 - 10:59 pm)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-King Christian@May 28th, 2004 - 10:44 pm
In England, I hear, you only start to eas when the Queen starts.  And the food is removed when the Queen finishes.  SO you better eat fast.

that is true--but the Queen is very considerate. She keeps a salad next to her as a prop so other guests can finish their meals. The one who never finishes on time is Prince Charles and the Queen has just given up on him! [/b][/quote]
Poooooooooor Prince Charles

That mean that he never end his food

Or he talk to much or eat to slow. How far i can realise in royals meals they just serve the plate made. That is you heat that and you can not reapet. They put the plat in front of you and is that.

In fact the Spanish protocal is horse than the british. He don't look like that but he is. The Duke of Bragança say in one interviwe that he never see horse than that. The 2 worst protocall is the spanish and the austrieque that don't existe now because don't exist an emperador.

 

[Josefine]

every court has their own Etiquette

 

[semisquare]

i lov this topic---keep it commin

 

[Josefine]

Royal Etiquette bwtween royals

I guess how the entering different funktion when there is a royal gathering
or we have seen junior royals bowing or curtsy to senior royals like at märtha luoise wedding i saw them or at least victoria curtsy to the queen of denmark

 

[NJRedDevils]

Question about marriage betwen Royal households

I was wondering , as an example say Lord Frederick of Windsor was dating Princess Madeleine of Sweden and they wanted to marry, does Freddy ask his head of the Royal Family been QEII, b4 asking King Gustav for permission or does he just ask King Gustav?

I know in commenor life the guy asks the girls father/parents.

Or Like CP Frederik, he asked his mother and CP Mary's father for their Blessing. But i was wondering how would it work between 2 different Royal Households wanting to Marry?

 

[Josefine]

i guess dress code depending on the event can be very important when meeting royals

 

[Von Schlesian]

i guess dress code depending on the event can be very important when meeting royals

Absolutely: Those who recieve invitations to Royal Events, or are hosting a Royal event themselves, recieve guidelines about what to wear. Evening dress is probably more limited in it's options, yet again though it totally depends on the event. At highland balls, highland or military dress is usually prescribed for gentlemen, during day-time events (depending on the time of year), a lighter or darker suit would be prescribed for gentlemen, I am not so well informed about ladies, but hats certainly come into play then.

 

[Marengo]

In the Netherlands most of these rules are already abolished. Only after WWII a courtier had the nerves to tell Queen Wilhelmina that the rule that when she is done with her dinner everybody else should stop as well, caused the guests to go home with an empty stomach (restaurants near the palace were usually filled after a royal banquet). Juliana abolished the curtseying and the walking backwards in a room sas she was afraid somebody would fall and embarrased if old people had to bow.

However some things didnt change. Somebody once started speaking to Queen Wilhelmina, the Queen gave an icely told her lady-in-waiting to inform that person that when in presence of a queen one is not expected to talk first (probably she didn't like the person who spoke as she was usually very courteous in situations like this. Once Paul Kruger attended a banquet at the palace and he mistook the bowl in which you can clean your greasy hands for something to drink from. After the Queen notced that Kruger drank from the bowl she did the same, in rder not to emberras him).

 

[BeatrixFan]

In Britain, I think the rule still stands that everyone stops eating when the Queen does at smaller dinners but for state banquets, it's been dropped. The Queen is always "Your Majesty" and others are "Your Royal Highness". You never touch a member of the Royal Family unless you're a close acquaintance and have their permission to kiss them etc, you never address them as 'you'. So for example, you say, "Did Your Majesty enjoy the performance?" and not "Did you like it?".

Dress is Britain is extremely complicated and depends on the event. We have morning dress and evening dress and we have rules on what colours to wear and when etc. All very complicated and I'd recommend 'Debretts Guide to Etiquette and Modern Manners' which comes out every 3 or 4 years and is updated. Very handy.

 

[Alexandria]

You never touch a member of the Royal Family unless you're a close acquaintance

Despite the more formal attitude she gives off, I think the Queen may be a bit more flexible on certain matters of protocol. A few years ago, when she was in Canada during her jubilee year, she was in Montreal and a famous cyclist went up to her and asked for a picture with her, which the Queen obliged. He then put his arm around her shoulders while his wife took the picture.

My memory is fuzzy, but at some point, either when the cyclist approached her or when he put his arms around her, one of the queen's ladies in waiting made a move to ask the man to not do that, but it was the queen who told her lady in waiting that it was okay and allowed the photo op to go on.

The picture of the cyclist and queen made it to the front pages of many newspapers here in Canada.

 

[BeatrixFan]

I remember seeing that. And then there was the woman in Africa who threw her arms around her and the Queen gave her a little cuddle back. But Margaret Thatcher was always touching the Queen's arm as if to lead her on which was always seen as a ghastly thing to do and I have to agree. Charles has said that he doesn't like people throwing their arms around him and he says that Americans have no idea when it comes to titles. "I'd rather they called me Charles if they can't manage HRH". Joan Rivers once said that she had no idea how to cope with titles and when she called, "Queenie, Duke and Prince", three dogs came along.

 

[Australian]

There was an incident when the then Prime Minister Paul Keating of Australia caused an uproar when he touched the Queen's back as a gesture to walk in a certain direction. There were many cartoons about this incident in papers and the Queen wasnt very happy!

 

[BeatrixFan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2332003.stm

The Cyclist Story and Photo from the BBC.

When Princess Michael of Kent took her children to see Les Dawson in a pantomime, he asked her if she'd come on stage. She did so and they had a great laugh together whilst she danced with him (As Widow Twankey) and generally enjoyed herself.

 

[Warren]

There was an incident when the then Prime Minister Paul Keating of Australia caused an uproar when he touched the Queen's back as a gesture to walk in a certain direction. There were many cartoons about this incident in papers and the Queen wasnt very happy!

It was a London tabloid-driven "uproar". Keating touched her back to guide her as he was introducing her to various people.
There was no suggestion from the Palace that the Queen was in any way "offended".
Just another storm in a teacup with a political agenda.

ps.. ref the second photo in BeatrixFan's BBC link (post above): the caption is confusing and does not show the former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating.

 

[BeatrixFan]

I think that because the Queen is an older lady that the majority have a great deal of affection for, people become protective and want to help her and put their arm around her in a loving and caring sort of way.