Kate Middleton skipped a curtsy to King Charles, Queen Camilla during Trump state visit welcome—here's why
Customarily, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, curtsies to King Charles and Queen Camilla when they meet in public. But at the official welcome for US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at their state visit, Princess Kate stood erect beside her husband, Prince William without curtsying to the King and Queen.
According to PEOPLE Magazine, the Trumps arrived on the grounds of Windsor Castle—the royal residence—in a helicopter on Wednesday, Sept. 17. William and Kate were the first to greet them, walking out to the Trumps as the first couple alighted. After the initial greetings, both couples walked the short distance to the steps of Windsor Castle, where King Charles and Queen Camilla were waiting.
William and Kate stood a few steps back as the Trumps greeted the King and Queen with handshakes. After exchanging pleasantries, the group stepped into waiting horse carriages.
Since King Charles’ coronation in 2022, the task of officially greeting foreign guests on state visits to the UK has been passed on to William and Kate. Like they did with the Trumps, the Prince and Princess of Wales welcome their guests as they alight from their aircraft or vehicle then walk or ride with the visitors to greet the monarch and his wife. At these events, Kate is usually seen making a curtsy to greet her royal in-laws. But this time with the Trumps, she did not.
But it was not out of disrespect. According to the media outlet, the welcome for the Trumps was arranged so that the Prince and Princess of Wales were already with the King and Queen before their guests arrived. Most likely, the public didn’t see Kate curtsy because that wasn’t the first time she saw King Charles and Queen Camilla that day. She would have seen and greeted them before then.
Keen royal observers were likely bemused by the missing curtsy because just the day before, Kate did do a dip for her father-in-law at the funeral for Katharine, the Duchess of Kent. Before they left the service, Kate said goodbye to King Charles by kissing him on both cheeks then making a quick curtsy.
While this show of respect (the curtsy, not the kiss) is common among royals and the public, they are not obliged to do so. All members of the royal family bow or curtsy to King and Queen as a greeting out of respect, not for anything else.
“There are no obligatory codes of behavior when meeting a member of the Royal Family, but many people wish to observe the traditional forms,” says the royal family’s official website.
Trump and his wife demonstrated this when they greeted the monarchs with handshakes and not a bow and a curtsy. There was no broken protocol.
This is the second state visit of the US President and his wife to the UK.
