Princess Lilibet must follow one major royal rule in reunion with King Charles
With rumours swirling that Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their children will travel to the UK for an Invictus event, if a reunion with the King is on the cards, Lilibet must abide by one royal protocol
Princess Lilibet turned five last week, meaning she now has to adhere to a royal rule(Image: Meghan/Instagram)
After years of living in California after quitting his royal duties, Prince Harry is set to return to the UK in the coming months for an event for the Invictus Games.
The Duke of Sussex is expected to visit Birmingham in July for a special Invictus event to mark the one year countdown to the major sporting event taking place in 2027.
While it is not confirmed if his wife Meghan Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will join Harry for the special event, many have speculated that they will in fact make the rare family trip to Harry’s home country.
Prince Harry and Meghan with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet (Image: @meghan/Instagram)
And while the family may not join Harry for his trip to Britain for the upcoming special event, many believe Meghan and the kids will visit Birmingham in July 2027, as Meghan did for the Invictus Games in Germany in 2023 and Canada in 2025. If the kids do make the journey to the UK, there has been added speculation that the Sussexes may reunite with King Charles, as he has not seen his youngest grandchildren for several years.
With the possibility that Archie and Lilibet may see their grandfather for the first time in over four years, both kids must now adhere to a strict royal protocol, given they are both over the age of five. From age five, young members of the Royal Family are expected to bow or curtsy to the reigning monarch, according to commentator Marlene Eilers Koenig.
Ms Koenig told Hello! Magazine: “Certainly [they will follow that rule] 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. Curtsying and bowing is etiquette, nothing to do with precedence,” she added. “You bow or curtsy the first time you see the sovereign and then again when you leave.”
Prince Harry with King Charles(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Myka Meier of Beaumont Etiquette, royal children begin etiquette training “as soon as they’re old enough to sit at a table”. Speaking to People magazine, she said: “They are raised having formal meals, going to formal events and practicing everything from voice levels to dressing appropriately.”
Prince Harry is reportedly hoping to see King Charles during the upcoming visit, although it is still unknown whether estranged father and son will meet face-to-face for the first time in almost a year. With the couple anticipated to make their joint return to the UK for many years over the summer for the event, some royal fans and commentators alike have started to speculate whether they will receive an invitation to join the Royal Family for their annual summer holidays at Balmoral.
Harry and Meghan may travel to the UK together for the Invictus Games in Birmingham (Image: AP)
Each year, the King spends several weeks in the Scottish residence over the summer, with several members of the Royal Family joining sporadically to enjoy their holidays in the sunshine together.
Royal author Ingrid Seward previously told the Mirror that the King could extend an invitation to Harry, Meghan and their children, if Harry is willing to agree to and follow certain rules. “Charles would get to say, ‘Darling boy, of course come to Balmoral’, and then because he’s the King, he could let his aides deal with everything else,” she said.
“They’d probably have to make them sign confidentiality agreements and all kinds of stuff – but Charles doesn’t have to do it, he can sit there looking like the good guy. He has a private secretary and other staff to deal with all of the details. They’d have them buttoned up as much as you can button them up.”
