Kate Middleton upholds strict protocol unlike Meghan Markle

Senior royals, who represent the monarchy at their public engagements, are bound by a range of unusual and highly formal rules. 

Princess Kate, in particular, rarely errs in this regard, having spent years mastering the formalities and customs required of her future role as Queen.

Although Meghan Markle was a successful actress before her marriage to Prince Harry, she initially struggled with the new royal rules she was expected to follow.

Since stepping back as a working royal and pursuing financial independence, Meghan has been open about these challenges. 

Recently, keen-eyed royal fans noticed that Meghan has diverged from royal traditions—specifically, by breaking a significant rule that Kate still observes during her charitable engagements.

The rule Meghan has departed from involves the prohibition on giving autographs. According to The Express, during a recent visit to a Children's Hospital, Meghan took Polaroid photos with young patients and signed them, giving them as keepsakes. While it is common for royals to visit hospitals, they typically do not hand out autographs, possibly to prevent fraud. 

Last year, at the first Children’s Picnic of the Chelsea Flower Show, Kate was reportedly asked for her autograph by a child, but she had to decline, explaining that royal protocol forbids it.

"I can't write my name, but I can draw" Kate is reported to have said, adding that "My name's Catherine. I'm not allowed to write my signature, it's just one of those rules." 

While Prince Harry has previously said that many of the times it was claimed that his wife "broke royal protocol" were incorrect, Meghan herself has noted that joining the monarchy was somewhat of a "baptism of fire" for an independent American such as herself.

"Joining this family, I knew that there was a protocol for how things were done," she explained in the six-part documentary series that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made with Netflix. 

However, there was no formal training, Meghan claimed, and so she was left figuring out the proper way of doing things as she went along. "There's no class [in which] some person goes, 'Sit like this, cross your legs like this, use this fork, don't do this, curtsy then, wear this kind of hat,'" Meghan explained, adding. "It doesn't happen. So I needed to learn a lot."