This Is The One Royal Greeting Rule That Meghan Markle Ignores

REX

(Image credit: DAVID HARTLEY/REX/Shutterstock)

And we hadn’t even noticed it till now…

Meghan Markle has fitted seamlessly into the royal family from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, from bonding with the Queen’s corgis to getting an early invite to spend Christmas at Sandringham with the Windsors.

And now that the couple have tied the knot, Meghan is officially a royal, with the Queen giving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the titles, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as a wedding present.

Since becoming a royal, Meghan has made some noticeable changes, deleting her social media pages, wearing tights to public engagements, changing her handwriting and curtsying to both the Duchess of Cambridge and Queen Elizabeth on the regular.

meghan markle trooping the colour dress — REX/Shutterstock

According to recent reports she will even be following new travel rules on her first royal tour next month, not eating garlic or shellfish, a family ban, imposed to ensure that the royals avoid food poisoning risks - and bad breath for royal banquets!

There is however one royal rule that the public has noticed Meghan doesn’t follow, and it’s all to do with greetings - a key part of a royal job.

At a recent reception in honour of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award, the new Duchess of Sussex was seen greeting guests alongside her husband and grandmother-in-law, the Queen.

But while the formal royal greeting is ‘How do you do’, the 36-year-old was heard saying ‘pleased to meet you’, as she frequented the room - something that according to biographers, is a big royal no-no.

‘Americans always say pleased to meet you. It’s a sort of transatlantic divide,’ Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told Fabulous Online. ‘It probably is a royal faux pas. But she’s American and that’s how Americans address each other. I don’t think a member of the royal family would say pleased to meet you. It goes along with “toilet” - it’s just one of those things you don’t say. It’s considered far more polite to say how do you do.’

We have a feeling this will be coming up in Meghan’s princess lessons.

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. After working at Marie Claire UK for seven years - rising from intern to Features Editor - she is now a freelance contributor to the News and Features section.

In 2021, Jenny was named as a winner on the PPA's '30 under 30' list, and was also listed as a rising star in journalism.