This Is When the Royal Children Will Start Bowing to the Queen (Video)

Sure, you may have to kiss your grandma when she comes in, hug your cousins, and play with your little sister, but you should try being a royal for a day. After all, they are the ones that need to bow to their great-grandma by age five.

According to royal expert Marlene Eilers Koenig, that is the age when the royal children will be expected to bow to Queen Elizabeth, the sovereign of the United Kingdom.

“Certainly by age five. The only person they will curtsy or bow to is the sovereign. A royal highness does not curtsy to another royal highness,” she told Hello! Magazine in a 2018 interview. “Yes, there are articles that state this, but it is not true.”

According to Koenig, this practice of bowing or curtsying has nothing to do with any official royal precedence. Instead, it’s merely “etiquette.”

“You bow or curtsy the first time you see the sovereign and then again when you leave,” she said, noting we all saw this happen at Christmas services.

“...at church, we saw the Cambridges and Prince Harry and Meghan curtsy and bow when the Queen arrived and left. Other royals including Charles did not because they had come from Sandringham and had already seen the Queen.”

Though we know from the Christmas event that Harry and Meghan, Kate, and William all already bow to their grandmother and grandmother-in-law, what’s a little unknown is if any of their children do as well.

As Marie Claire pointed out, Prince George turns six years old next week, meaning he may be the only kid currently bowing to Queen Elizabeth. Though, Charlotte is four so isn’t that far beyond. We think Prince Louis, who is just one, and Archie, who is a mere infant, both get a pass. But, it will be no time at all before they are bowing and learning the other royal rules like never going to bed before the Queen, never wearing black, and never ever eating shrimp while traveling.