Sit like a royal
One of the worst things a woman in the royal family can do—as far as etiquette rules go—is sit with her legs crossed at the knee. Legs and knees must be kept together, although crossing at the ankle is fine. One popular pose is called “the duchess slant,” coined by Beaumont Etiquette and named for the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. Her go-to sitting position involves keeping her knees and ankles tightly together and slanting her legs to the side. It keeps her posture modest and makes her legs appear longer. In fact, the late Princess Diana was known to sit the exact same way.
Enter the room in order
When the royal family is part of a procession, they enter and are seated in the order of precedence, which is essentially the order of who’s next in line to the throne. The order is Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla), the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Kate Middleton), and so on.
Make your curtsy subtle
Royal curtsies don’t need to reach the floor; simply put one leg behind the other, bend your knees, and bow your head slightly. However, deeper curtsies and long pauses are a sign of respect and formality, for instance, when meeting the queen.
Check out these other fascinating facts about Queen Elizabeth II.