Bowing and Curtseying

[snowflower]

I too don't like the idea of bowing and curtseying to a royal because I find it outdated and somehow insulating, because even if today it is perceived by many as a mere sign of respect to a royal it didn't began as a sign of respect but as a way to aknowledge that a person born or married to a royal was your superior. I was watching to Youtube a video about the Windsor and I noticed a black and white scene where women were curtseying to the then Princess Elisabeth of York and I found it , well, disturbing. Today she may be a Queen and deserves signs of respect, but then she was just a very young girl, not even in her teens, and yet middle aged women where bowing to a little girl.

[LadyFinn]

Debutantes give a mass curtsey to the guest of honour, the Countess of Mansfield, at Queen Charlotte's Ball at Grosvenor House in 1964.
IBL Bildbyrå

[Saragli]

Can someone post photos of the tennis players bowing/curtsying to the Queen at Wimbledon.

[Hereditary Thane]

There is an above posting from a staff member in a noble family. The correspondent asserts she is happy to curtsey to her "employer". This is disgraceful and almost unbelievable, no employer should expect their staff to be so obsequious, a noble family wouldn't most certainly today. Even in the stuffy and class conscious BRF palace staff do not bow or courtsey in private: they will of course if greeting a royal in an ante room, and upon the sovereign entering and leaving.

[HRH MAZA]

Princess Letizia curtsies to Queen Anne Marie at 0:47.....a very deep curtsy!

YouTube - Los PrÃ*ncipes desean suerte a nuestros deportistas en PekÃ*n

[Warren]

Queen Elizabeth presenting the winning jockey of the Queen's Plate with a trophy, Toronto, Canada, 5 July 2010.

-> A very low bow
.

[CrownPrincess5]

Sometimes I think some peope are just sucking up to these royals. There's no need for him to bend so low.

[LadyFinn]

Lovely photo:
Charming finnish general, 91-year old Adolf Ehrnrooth, kisses the hand of 19-year old crown princess Victoria at a reception in Helsinki, August 1996. General Ehrnrooth was a family friend to swedish royals.
Savon Sanomat

[Harold]

I saw video today of the Spanish football team at the Palace in Madrid with the Spanish royals. No one bowed. Has bowing died out in Spain?

[lancchick]

A photo of Liam Gallagher bowing to Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

When rock 'n' roll met royalty: Princess Mary makes an impression on Liam Gallagher

[kbk]

It must be said for the last time and everyone should accept that and do not ask stupid questions: formally all heads of state are equal, regardless of the nature of their position. The Emperor of Japan, the Prince of Liechtenstein, the Governor-General of Canada, the President of Nigeria and the President of the United States of America are of equal status and do not need (and should not, I think) to bow to anyone. The consorts of heads of state enjoy their status, even if they are not Queens but only First Ladies or Vice-Regal consorts. Of course, anyone should show his or her respects to somebody if he or she wants it and thinks it is appropriate. But there is a difference between me, a commoner, choosing to show my respects to a foreign monarch or a prince or anyone on a high position, and an official, someone who holds this high position. Should Obama bow to Akihito? Maybe he wanted it, because of Akihito's age, the history and tradition of the Imperial throne and Japan at all, but really, did he? From an American view? From protocol view? It's not so easy. Generally, I do not want my President (I'm from Poland) to bow to anyone, because he is for me the highest representative of Poland. Poland is a sovereign and proud state and should not bow to anything or anyone and thus, its President should not. Of course, he is not the state himself, like in the absolute monarchy, but the symbolic role of the Presidency is clear and very important.

Originally Posted by Hereditary Thane

I have to make some pertinent corrections to the above concerning British court protocol. All princes and princesses of the blood and their spouses bow or curtsey to the soverign; a prince or princess does not bow to Prince Philip - he is not a constitutional prince consort. Although the current royal family and a few remaining families adhere to the tradition of kissing (something the late Queen Mother didn't like, but then she was from a landed coal owning aristocratic and not a royal background) the hand of a lady of rank, kissing her left cheek if a close friend, and kissing both cheeks if a kinswoman; doing all three if she is a close kinswoman of high rank. The misplaced political correctness of the established elite thinks it fine not to bow or curtsey. Quaint custom? Next week a new Prime Minister will be appointed by the Queen and believe me if he were not to kiss hands then that would be a constitutional crisis. Perhaps those seeking power have always been prepared to bow the knee!

That's true. I saw some pictures of Michael of Kent bowing to his cousin The Queen and the Duke of Windsor bowing to his sister-in law The Queen Mother as well as his niece The Queen. There also photos and videos of royal relatives kissing, as you wrote, hand and both cheeks of their kinswomen, for example, the former King of the Hellens kissing the hand and both cheeks of Elizabeth II. It was Getty Images, I think.

[wedmonds]

I think that it should not matter rather or not you are married into a family or born into it. I think that if someone has a higher rank than you, you should bow. PERIOD. If I was a Queen Consort I wouldn't bow to a Queen Regnant (Queen in her own right), in my eyes we are both royal with the style "Majesty". And there would be no need for that.

I have seen pictures of the late Queen Mother talking with Queen Juliana. And she never bowed to her. They were equal and were friends. She had been knowing Queen Elizabeth for years. So if you ask me I don't have the slightest idea on why The Crown Princess of Norway would even bow to people equal to her in status. Maybe someone should get her a royal protocol sheet. She is obviously a commoner who doesn't know how things should be done.

To be honest if I was a Princess I would never bow to a Crown Princess. Only to people with the style Majesty. Because they are sovereigns. Other than that I wouldn't bow to anyone AT ALL. Just a simple hand shake, or maybe not that (ewwwwww Germs).

[HRH MAZA]

At 0:15 you can see Princess Mary curtseying to Queen Margrethe

YouTube - Princess Mary's Twin Shock

[HRH MAZA]

Princess Anne curtsies to Queen Elizabeth in her wedding day

YouTube - The wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips(capt) 1973 pt 2

[MARG]

Originally Posted by LadyFinn

Lovely photo:
Charming finnish general, 91-year old Adolf Ehrnrooth, kisses the hand of 19-year old crown princess Victoria at a reception in Helsinki, August 1996. General Ehrnrooth was a family friend to swedish royals.
Savon Sanomat

How wonderful to be on the receiving end of such an old fashioned (but not redundant) show of honour and respect. Victoria looks delighted and her mother, slightly amused. What a truely "old world" curtesy.

Utterly charming and not in the least subservient, servile or any other nasty PC put-down. A true gentleman paid his respect to a true lady!

[larlincol7]

I would gather that in France the Comte de Paris is at the apex of the nobility pyramid. There is no other family in France(including the Bonapartes) with the lineage and history of the French Royal Family. I am assuming every noble in France would bow to HRH le Comte de Paris. The recent gathering in France between the Duchesse d'Orleans and Princess Michael of Kent made me wonder? Who bows first?

[kbk]

Welsh-American actress Catherine Zeta-Jones bowing to The Prince of Wales. Royal appointment for Catherine Zeta-Jones

[Sister Morphine]

Catherine curtsied, not bowed. Men bow, women curtsy.

I must say though, I love her dress.

[Rascal]

The different "regulations" among the different monarchies, ruling princes, fomer monarchs, non-ruling royals, etc. can be baffling. It seems like the protocol of bowing/curseying - while very respectful - is rather passe', much like full gown/tiara/fur for movie premieres, dressing in a suit for an airplane trip, and Queen Mary's full glittering family suppers every night of the week.

That being said, I was so surprised I had to watch it again...at the entrance to the Hall of State in Sweden for the wedding banquet of Victoria and Daniel, Princess Desiree (one of Victoria's goparents) was assigned to the head table and was directly in the path that the other guests followed to reach their seats at that table. When her brother, King Carl XVI Gustaf (escorting Daniel's mother) passed by her, Princess Desiree curtsied. She did the same thing a moment later when her sister-in-law, Queen Silvia (escorted by Daniel's father), moved around the table to reach her seat.

Other than the photos from Lilian curtseying to the King and his new Queen at her own wedding to Bertil, I don't recall very many times when I have seen the extended royal family or their descendants doing so.

[Esmerelda]

Originally Posted by HRH MAZA

At 0:15 you can see Princess Mary curtseying to Queen Margrethe

Hope she doesn't do that when heavily pregnant..