Kate Middleton Just Broke One Major Royal Rule With Queen Elizabeth Proving Their Has Been A Shift In The Royal Family
At the recent Chelsea Flower Show – which is an annual event whose target audience is usually senior citizens – Kate Middleton made a splash with her new garden that is aimed at young families to encourage them to get their kids outside and enjoy something besides an electronic device.
Kate recently showed off her creation to her husband, Prince William, and their three kids – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. But it was a visit from Queen Elizabeth that signaled there has been a shift in the royal family.
An extraordinary kiss
When Queen Elizabeth stopped by Kate Middleton’s garden, cameras captured an extraordinary moment that royal fans have never witnessed before. Instead of greeting her majesty with the traditional curtsy, Kate kissed the Queen on both cheeks before a quick curtsy.
While this may not seem like a big deal, the informal greeting is actually huge news. No matter how things might be behind closed doors, when they are in public, the royal family is all about tradition, symbolism, and image.
For the Queen to allow Kate’s kisses in front of cameras, the monarch is giving the future Queen Consort a major stamp of approval says news.com.au.
Did the royal family forget where they were?
Tradition is of the utmost importance when the Royal family is in public. They always walk in order of rank and importance, and when they arrive somewhere, it is always in ascending order of importance.
Greetings to each other always include a formal bow from the lower-ranking males and a curtsy from the lower-ranking females, but kisses are never a part of the tradition.
Not only did Kate Middleton kiss the Queen on both cheeks, but so did Prince William. And, this led to some fans wondering if they forgot where they were because the formalities appeared to be an afterthought.
“The thing I noticed was the kiss came before the bow or curtsy. It must be how they normally do it. It’s like the formal part was an afterthought. I think they forgot the cameras were there,” wrote a Royal fan on Twitter, while another added, “Interesting kisses before courtesy. I figured it’d be more formal first.”
Queen Elizabeth clearly loves Kate Middleton
Earlier this year, Kate joined the Queen for an official solo visit, and her majesty also gave Kate the highest honor she can give her – she made her a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).
Multiple reports claim that the 93-year-old Queen is planning to retire when she turns 95 and will request legislation to give the throne to her son, Prince Charles. As the longest-reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth has been on the throne for an amazing 67 years.
However, the family knows a transition will take place sooner rather than later, and that means Prince William will soon be the heir and Kate will become the Princess of Wales, just one step away from Queen Consort.
It appears that Queen Elizabeth is more than happy with the job Kate Middleton, 37, has been doing. And, with Prince Charles already being 70 years old, his reign as the British monarch will be significantly shorter than his mother’s – who took the throne at age 25. This means Kate’s transition from Princess of Wales to Queen Consort will most likely happen when she is still relatively young.
The social media war continues between the Cambridges and the Sussexes
While Prince William and Kate Middleton prepare to move up the line of succession, they still don’t appear to be as popular as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – at least on social media. Ever since they split their Instagram accounts, Meghan and Harry’s @SussexRoyal is getting more views and likes than William and Kate’s @KensingtonRoyal.
A simple picture of Prince Harry at a public speaking engagement recently scored nearly 300,000 likes, while a similar picture of Prince William only received about 122,000. The sweet photos of William and Kate’s children at Kate’s garden managed to get close to one million likes, while a picture of baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor’s feet reached more than two million.
However, no matter how popular Harry and Meghan might be, their future is very different from William and Kate’s. Succession to the throne is about birth order, not Instagram likes. And, the Queen’s approval of Prince William and Kate Middleton is really all that matters.
