July Q&A (2017)

As always, post your Royal Questions & I will get to them as soon as possible.

Question 1: Do you know exactly at what time Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will start their royal tour in Warsaw? I have to know at what time to appearance there.

Answer: All we have been told is they arrive mid-day. Usually, shortly beforehand local media and officials announce a good time & place to spot the royals during the visit. So I would look out for that. 

Question 2: I will be meeting Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I want to give them an interesting and unique present, but I have no idea what I should give them. Do you have any ideas? 

Answer: That is a difficult question. What do you give people who have everything?

You can read the Royals policy on gifts here. 

As a basic rule, the gift should cost less than £150 (€170, $190, etc.). They get so many gifts, so it's good to give them something personal & memorable.

I assume your meeting the Duke & Duchess in an official way. So something connected to the work you are doing could be nice: maybe a t-shirt from your organization, or a small scrapbook of photos and press clippings from your project. 

Or something connected to your visit: an ornament of your city's landmark, or a picture frame with your city's name on it. 

Flowers are also always good, teddy bear, a nice letter (include your return address on the letter & you likely will get a thank you from a member of staff), etc.

Question 3: Would it be a good idea to write to Prince George for his first day of school?  


Answer: Sure! You could write to Prince George, or Will & Kate, for Geroge's 1st day of school. George's 1st day will be in early September.

You could send your letter before his 1st day to wish him good luck. Or you could write after to congratulate him on it and wish him a happy school year.   

I'm probably going to write after his 1st day because I feel like I will have more to say. 

I feel like if you write beforehand, sending it in late August, you might of well just said what you wanted to in a birthday letter to George. I see little point in sending two letters to the same person is the space of a month if you don't need to. 

Question 4: What is your favourite Royal Reply from this year? 


Answer: That is a difficult question.

I would have to say either the hand-written note by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex's private secretary, because who doesn't love a hand-written, personal note. 

Or the Thank You card for my condolences for Prince Richard von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg's passing. Obviously, it is a sad piece of mail. But it also feels like a piece of history and will be a very lovely piece to remember Prince Richard by. 

Question 5: Do you know the protocol for Prince Philip when he is meeting King? During the Spanish State Visit, I saw Prince Charles bow to King Felipe, but I didn't catch Prince Philip meeting him. I also noticed that Queen Letizia didn't curtsey to the Queen, but wondered if the age of Elizabeth and/or Philip played any part of proper greetings.


Answer: Monarchs don't normally bow to each other, and when both have their spouse I think the spouse sort of takes on the Monarch's level. I didn't really see much difference between how one greets Monarch vs. the spouse. But there can be a bit. 

A lot of it depends on how friendly the Royals are, have they met before, are they related, the gender of the two people, etc. Age plays a part a bit, but it's more their history and relationship. Also, height difference makes things awkward, if I have to bend down to kiss your cheek does it count as a bow/curtsy. 

Also how formal the greeting depends on the type of event. Tiaras and ball gowns are going to be a lot more formal than day-time events. Also, it depends on if they have met earlier that day or visit. 2nd greetings are often less formal. The location also plays a part, who is the guest vs. host, who is arriving and who is already there, etc. 

But I don't think there is a very strict way of greeting, we've seen a lot of combinations of handshakes, kisses, hugs, head nods, bows, etc. But obviously, the Monarch ranks above Royal.

Looking back at some videos, this is what I noticed: 

Meeting King Felipe:

• Queen
• House Guards Arrival: kissed cheek, Felipe kissed Queen's hand, handshake
• Buckingham Palace Departure: kiss cheeks, half hug, Felipe kissed Queen's hand
• Philip
• House Guards Arrival: handshake, You could call it mutual head nods, or just say Philip nodded at Felipe
• Buckingham Palace Departure: kiss cheeks, Philip bows
• Charles 
• Hotel Arrival: handshake, kissed cheeks and bowed
• Clarence House Arrival: Felipe gave him a head nod. There was sort of an awkward moment, with Letizia and Camilla between them so Charles and Felipe didn't get to shake hands before they headed inside. (Felipe had greeted Camilla 1st, then Letizia moved in to greet Camilla, preventing the Charles and Felipe from greeting)
• Camilla 
• Hotel Arrival: hug, kissed cheeks, curtsy, Felipe kissed her hand 
• Clarence House Arrival: kissed cheeks, held hands, Camilla head nod
• Anne
• Guild Hall Arrival: handshake, kiss cheeks, Felipe kisses hand, Anne curtsies deep. 
• Tim
• Guild Hall Arrival: handshake, Tim bows. 
• Teresa May:
• 10 Downing Arrival: Handshake, May head nods/bows

Meeting Queen Letizia

• Queen
• House Guards Arrival: handshake, mutual head nods
• Buckingham Palace Departure: kiss cheeks, half hug, Letizia head nods
• Philip
• House Guards Arrival: handshake, mutual head nods
• Buckingham Palace Departure: kiss cheeks, half hug, Letizia head nods
• Charles
• Hotel Arrival: Hug, handshake, kissed cheeks, something that could be considered a head nod, kissed her hand, 
• Clarence House Arrival: Hug, handshake, kissed cheeks, Charles kissed her hand, something that could be considered a head nod
• Camilla
• Hotel Arrival: hug, kiss cheeks, curtsy
• Clarence House Arrival: kiss cheeks, curtsy
• Anne:
• Guild Hall Arrival: Anne curtsy deep, kisses cheeks, half hung 
• Tim:
• Guild Hall Arrival: Video cut off their greeting

Question 6: How can you tell the difference between auto-penned vs. printed vs. handwritten signatures on letters?

Answer: I went into the differences about this in the February 2017 Q&A, Question #4.

It can be difficult at times. Most anything from a royal is going to be printed or auto-penned. If it's staff writing it's likely handwritten. Although I have seen auto-penned and printed signatures for staff. 

The only signed replies I've gotten are Duchess Camilla and the Liechtenstein Royals. Hand-signing things are just sort of how they normally handle mail.