People associate the British royal family with tradition, glamour, nobility, and romance. And lately, it’s been all about the romance between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Sigh…
Yup, Kate’s become an overnight sensation with royal family fans (we all remember the hubbub over the royal wedding!). But now the Queen says that Kate now has to curtsey to princesses of the blood (those who were born princesses). In other words, she has to acknowledge her “inferiority” to her cousins in law.
This really dates back to English royal tradition, where certain customs were in place to respect a strict hierarchy. It’s a complex system based on marriages, births, who’s in line for the throne, and in this case, if someone’s husband is present with them. Technically, the Queen is just enforcing something that has been in place for thousands of years, and the she herself follows — basically, without Prince William around, Kate is still considered a commoner, and has to act as such. There’s a great example in this article of the Queen waiting to enter a memorial service in the rain, because people who outranked her had shown up and therefore had to had to enter before her. Apparently Prince Phillip hadn’t come with her, so she shifted down a few tiers for the day. In turn, if William is present with Kate, the roles in the hierarchy are reversed.
But a lot of people are seeing this as an affront to Kate, owing to the fact that she wasn’t born a royal. There’s still a certain group of people who call Kate and her sister Pippa “the wisteria sisters,” after their perceived extravagance and social climbing. The fact that Kate now has to curtsy to her cousins-in-law could be seen as a major diss, even though she’s a duchess herself.
What do you think, Lovelies? Do you support the Queen telling Kate to curtsey? Do you think it’s fair?
[Via The Daily Beast]
guest
I dunno, sounds all good to me. If Kate’s alright with it then it doesn’t matter. How does one perform a curtsy anyway? Is it like a bow?
guest
I guess technically as she wasn’t born a royal she still has to show respect (although they haven’t done a whole lot to really warrant respect) to those who were, after all she is only a duchess because the Queen gave her the title when she married. Seemingly ridiculous, but this sort of “pomp and ceremony” is what the royal family is all about
! (Also not to seem too picky but 1. The Queen Mother died just over 10 years ago and 2. Kate doesn’t have sisters-in-law, the “princesses” are Beatrice and Eugenie, Prince William’s cousins. Also I’m prettyy sure the Queen would never be made to stand out in the rain! As a Monarch I’m pretty sure she is of equal ranking to all other Heads of State from all over the world, she is certainly the highest ranking individual in the commonwealth, husband with her or not).
rose / 786 posts
I mean, I guess it makes sense. She’s not making a big deal about it. Why should we?
guest
I honestly don’t think it’s a big deal…she’ll probably get used to it and lets me honest – she married a prince, i’m sure she kind of knew what’s in store. It’s also not biased – the queen had to wait in the rain before.
guest
It’s Royal Protocol and she’s had to do it all along, it just wasn’t published in the paper. It’s been protocol for years (before Kate was even born) and it will always be that way because she wasn’t born into the royal family. She knew it was going to be like that all along. This title is making it seem like Royals put this into place because they don’t like Kate, and that’s not the truth. It’s been this way for centuries, they’re not going to change things now.
guest
As far as I know, the brothers Harry and William do not have a sister, unless Prince Charles had another daughter in secret… or prince Harry secretly married, which still would make no sense, because she’d be in the same position as Kate.
But yeah, who ever she has to curtsey to; it’s their tradition, one that has been upheld for hundreds hundreds of years. It’s part of a cultural heritage, and I have no qualms about it. Nor does Kate seem to have any about it. So who would we be to say something about it.
hydrangea / 81 posts
Oh what bull sh@#t! Queen considering herself as a Royal living on poor poeple’s tax. And the rest of the others being commoners!
guest
I’m so confused by this article. Do I “support” the queen doing this? Do I “think it’s fair”?
Does it matter? Who gives a shit? If the English want to continue to honor their royal family, I don’t care, and if they’ve got some weird-ass traditions about who’s blood is better, doesn’t matter to me.
Also, this article is riddled with inaccuracies about who’s who in the royal family. We Americans mostly don’t understand all their different ranks; probably, we should leave the royals reporting to them.
guest
Fair? She became an instant millionaire and all she had to do is curtsey and tolerate her ugly husband. Yeah, it’s fair.
guest
Oh, my heart bleeds for her, the poor dear. Life is so hard. HA.
guest
Age is showing up on her face… hmmm.. probably the last symbol of the degenerated imperial monarchs from England.
guest
Ok, first off, I saw an interview Katie Couric did with the Queen’s personal publicist recently, and she said the Queen doesn’t even care if people curtsey to her any more, so I’m having trouble believing the Queen personally cares about this.
Secondly, Kate knew when she agreed to marry William that her entire life would be complicated by things like this. In a world where she has to deal with being the wife of the future king of England, with every outfit she wears and appearance she makes heavily scrutinized, I really doubt this is anywhere on her list of things to worry or care about.
guest
On an unrelated note… Kate looks really pretty in that dress in the second photo!
guest
Someone else already said it, but I am going to point it out again: The Queen never waited out in the rain. Camilla waited in the rain because she went to a service with Prince Charles and so she had to wait for Princess Anne, who is higher than her in rank when Charles isn’t around, to enter first. Please fix this, as there is a huge difference between the Queen and Prince Charles’ wife, especially as she does not have royal blood (like Kate).
As for the “do I support this” or “is it fair” nonsense, I think that it is what it is. Kate was with Prince William long enough before they got engaged that she had to know that not having royal blood made her different than the rest of the royal family. This is how it has been for centuries. Its just how it is. I don’t think its a big deal or an affront to Kate, and I doubt Kate is highly offended. Like I said, she knew what she was getting into.
guest
Sure. If the Queen went through the same thing & so did her ancestors before her, who are we to question their culture?
guest
^ yep! it’s not an insult since the queen is obliged to do it as well.
guest
it’s a fucking bow. it takes two seconds. everyone will get over it soon enough.
guest
personally, i find monarchy ridiculous in general, so it’s not that i think it’s unfair for her to curtsy, just ridiculous like the rest of it.
guest
“Queen waiting to enter a memorial service in the rain, because people
who outranked her had shown up and therefore had to had to enter before
her.”
Reading comprehension fail. The article mentions Camilla and Prince Charles, not the Queen and Prince Phillip.