If you’ve ever daydreamed about meeting a member of the royal family, and panicked about the quality of your curtsy, you’re in luck. The American-born Countess of Sandwich has revealed the etiquette behind bowing, curtsies, and the formal protocol of meeting a royal.
“Royal etiquette has its roots in the medieval court, when every movement around the monarch signified loyalty and rank,” Julie Montagu, the Countess of Sandwich, explained in a video on TikTok. “How deeply you bowed, where you stood, and even how you approached the throne all reflected your place in the hierarchy” during that time period. It sounds like something straight out of a Philippa Gregory novel, but the good news is “over time, those gestures did of course soften.”
