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December 23, 2016 by Laura Marie Meyers

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Royal Etiquette

If you're ever lucky enough to meet the queen, you should first call her "Your Majesty," and from there you can refer to her as "ma'am."
For royals with "HRH" ahead of their name, they should be referred to as "Your Royal Highness" when you first greet them and then either "sir" or "ma'am" moving forward.
Do you have to curtsy or bow to the queen? Not by law, but many British subjects who want to keep with tradition or show respect to the royals may do so.
As for handshakes, they're fair game, but you shouldn't offer your hand to a royal to shake. Instead, you should wait for them to offer their hands to you, and aside from that, there should be no other touching. (Hence everyone freaking out when First Lady Michelle Obama put her hand on the queen's back during a reception.)
The royals should also be the ones guiding conversation, and people who are set to meet members of the royal family are typically told not to ask direct questions.
Oh, and no asking for selfies. (Or autographs.)

Prince William

Prince William took a gap year, traveling and volunteering in Belize, Chile, and several countries in Africa before heading to university. He also worked on an English dairy farm, getting up before dawn to milk cows and earning about $5 an hour.
In 2001, Prince William enrolled at St. Andrew's under the name William Wales. He received a Scottish Master of Arts degree with upper second-class honors in geography — the highest degree ever obtained by an heir to the British throne.
Prince William proposed to Kate in Kenya during a 10-day safari in October 2010 after carrying his mother's 18-carat ring in a rucksack with him, waiting for the perfect moment.
After Will and Kate received more than 60,000 pieces of fan mail for the royal wedding, he made sure everyone with a return address got a reply.

Kate Middleton

The story goes that Prince William fell for Kate while she was modeling a sexy see-through dress at a university fashion show.
Kate Middleton is the UK's first royal bride with a university degree, having graduated from the University of St. Andrews with a degree in art history.

The Duchess of Cambridge was the oldest British royal bride ever at just 29 years old.
She's rumored to call Prince William "Big Willie," and he reportedly likes to call her "babykins."
There have been a lot of sporty Kate Middleton moments since she married Prince William, but her athletic side is nothing new. She set high-school records for high jump and long jump.
Supposedly, Kate Middleton's favorite drink is called a "crack baby," so that's what Kathie Lee Gifford drank on TV during the royal wedding in 2011.

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II married her third cousin — she and Prince Philip shared the same great-great-grandparents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were first cousins themselves.
She became queen while she was in Kenya for a royal tour. There, the 25-year-old princess learned that her father had died, thus becoming queen.
Queen Elizabeth II isn't legally required to own a driving license — or a passport!
Although Prince Charles's marriage to his longtime mistress Camilla made for a tricky situation, the queen showed her support, toasting to the couple at their wedding reception, saying, "Having cleared Becher's Brook and the Chair [tough racing obstacles], the happy couple are now in the winners' enclosure."
She texts her grandkids like a true modern monarch.

Prince Harry

Also like Will, Harry graduated from the Royal Military Academy as a Second Lieutenant, and in 2008, he fought on the frontlines in Afghanistan. The Palace had hoped to keep the mission secret, and once news broke, he was sent home. Prince Harry returned to Afghanistan in 2012.
Although his brother and his sister-in-law do make a lot of headlines, it was Prince Harry who was named most popular royal in 2014.

Money, Names, and Titles

The Line to the Throne

The Scandals That Made Headlines

Royal Etiquette

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