5 Royal Protocols Queen Elizabeth Has Broken Throughout Her 67-Year Reign

Sep 16, 2019 by apost team

If one person is the embodiment of dignity and decorum, it’s Queen Elizabeth. Her iconic good manners and spot-on comments are an example for all. No one is more of a lady than this beloved queen. Even the queen, however, has occasionally bent the royal rules.

The following five examples showcase times during her reign when the queen has broken protocol and brought progress to her people.

Ascending to the throne traditionally had been for men only. Big sisters were routinely bypassed by their kid brothers on the way to the throne. In March 2015, Queen Elizabeth’s amendment to the Succession to the Crown Act took effect. According to the Royal Household, This royal edict breaks more than one thousand years of royal tradition and states that birth order, not gender, determines who ascends to the throne.

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A female royal typically had been referred to as “Lady” while male siblings long enjoyed the title of “Prince.” In 2012, Queen Elizabeth ruled that a female royal is to be addressed as “Princess.” Her Royal Highness, Princess Charlotte, was the first female to benefit from this change. Female royals are now addressed with an equal level of formality as they wait in the right place in line for the throne.

Few occasions are more intimidating than a meeting with the queen. Only the highest standards of decorum and finest manners are in order when one is approached by Her Royal Highness. Queen Elizabeth, however, has endeared herself to her subjects for decades by going out among her people.

Since 1970, the queen has conducted royal walkabouts in which she walks out in public among her people as a gesture of goodwill and patriotic encouragement. According to the Telegraph, the first walkabout took place in 1970 when the Queen was on tour in Australia and New Zealand with the Duke of Edinburgh in an attempt to meet more members of the public.

Michelle Obama isn’t the only individual to feel the warmth of the queen’s goodness. Roman Catholics have also been brought into the royal fold. Since the queen presides over the Church of England, marriage to Roman Catholics had been forbidden since 1701.

For example, King George IV was not formally wed to his Roman Catholic love Maria Fitzherbert. Fortunately, royal amendments introduced in 2013 gave Roman Catholics the go-ahead to marry into the royal family in 2015 even if they still aren’t allowed to ascend to the throne.

Another Church of England relic was recently tossed out due to royal rule: marrying a divorcee. The royals were so tied to this church teaching that Princess Margaret chose royal duty over her true love, divorcee Captain Peter Townsend, in 1950.

“Mindful of the Church’s teaching that Christian marriage is indissoluble, and conscious of my duty to the Commonwealth, I have resolved to put these considerations before any others,” Princess Margaret in a statement at the time according to People. 

Working together, Queen Elizabeth and the Church of England officially opened the way for a second chance at love by giving divorcees the right to marry into the royal family in 2002. This permission was granted even if their exes were not yet dead. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles were the first royals to enjoy this new ruling at their 2005 wedding. More recently, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took advantage of this updated law in 2018. Queen Elizabeth has proven that being proper should never occur at the expense of progress.

What do you think of Queen Elizabeth’s rebellious moves? What is your favorite fact about the British Monarch? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!