As you might imagine, the idea of meeting a royal, such as King Charles, is pretty ~daunting~ for a lot of people. Least not because of all those pesky rules we're apparently meant to follow. Curtsying and bowing, for instance. How the heck are you supposed to know what to do on that front?!
Well, according to a former royal butler who has served the King himself, the answer is actually: a whole lot of nothing.
Yep, other than just being a polite and decent human, it turns out you don't need to bow, curtsy or making any formal gestures when around royalty (although you can if you want).
During a new interview with Fox News, Grant Harrold, who recently released a memoir, The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service, said, "I think a lot of people assume that when you meet the royal family, you're supposed to bow or curtsy [but] you don't. It isn't required — it's entirely a personal choice.
"The king even had a discussion with me about it. He said, 'When you bow or curtsy, you're doing it to the title. You're not doing it to the person'."
In fact, the Royal Family's official website even explains as much for anxious royal greeters. "The simple answer is that there are no obligatory codes of behaviour - just courtesy," it states. "However, many people wish to observe the traditional forms of greeting.
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"For men this is a neck bow (from the head only) whilst women do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way."
This comes in slight contrast to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's, retelling of her first meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II, where – in the tell-all Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan – she quipped, "We were in the car [on the way to meet the Queen], driving and he's like: 'You know how to curtsy right?' and I just thought it was a joke."
Prince Harry then added, "How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American. That's weird."
The Duchess then recalled how she dropped into a (slightly OTT) deep curtsy in front of Her Majesty, practically hitting the floor, before saying, "Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty."
If only the Duchess had had a quick look at the fam's website beforehand, eh!
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
