Meeting your significant other’s relatives can be a nerve-wracking experience. Now imagine if the family matriarch was Queen Elizabeth II. Well for the now-Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton), that was a reality.
Prince William‘s wife met the queen briefly at Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly‘s wedding in 2008. Following that brief introduction, Kate was invited to the monarch’s Scottish estate Balmoral. In an effort to make her feel welcome, the queen allowed her grandson’s then-girlfriend to bring something usually forbidden into the castle.
The protocol Queen Elizabeth broke for Kate
Royal fans know Kate has always been a keen photographer. When Queen Elizabeth learned that she gave her rare permission to bring a camera inside the castle to take photographs.
As Express noted, royal commentator and author Katie Nicholl spoke about this explaining: “Kate first visited Balmoral Castle in 2009, two years before her wedding to Prince William. Though a small gesture, the late queen allowing Kate to take photos was a huge step in welcoming her to the fold.”
In her book Kate: The Future Queen, Nicholl wrote: “Until now the queen had met Kate only fleetingly at the wedding of Peter and Autumn Phillips, but she went out of her way to make her feel welcome, giving her permission to take pictures at Balmoral.”
She added: “As a woman who has lived her entire life in the public eye, the queen rarely lets her guard down, and very few apart from her family and closest friends get to see the real Elizabeth.”
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Kate previously took a special photo at Balmoral, and photographed the queen consort
The princess has taken several portraits of her children over the years marking their birthdays and other milestones such as the first day of school. And it was at Balmoral where Kate took a famous shot of the monarch and Prince Philip with their great-grandchildren in 2018.
Moreover, in July 2022, when Camilla, Queen Consort (formerly Camilla Parker Bowles) guest-edited the issue of Country Living to mark her 75th birthday, the princess photographed her for the magazine cover. Following the shoot, Camilla had nothing but praise for her daughter-in-law’s professionalism and photography skills.
“She did very good pictures, and she does it sort of naturally. We had a lot of fun doing it,” Camilla said, adding: “It was very relaxed and, of course, very kind of [the Princess of Wales]. She came with her camera and she’s an extremely good photographer. And it was all very casual — there wasn’t much hair and make-up. It was just done in the garden with a lot of laughs — it was a lovely way of doing it.”
Queen Elizabeth also went against protocol for Meghan before too
But it’s wasn’t just Kate Queen Elizabeth broke protocol for. She did so for Meghan Markle in the past as well.
Prince Harry and Meghan announced in November 2017 that they were engaged. The following month, Meghan joined the royal family for the Christmas at Sandringham. Staying with the family at the Norfolk estate for the holiday before their wedding day is something the queen didn’t allow other royal fiancées, including Kate, to do. But Meghan was there with the rest of Harry’s relatives five months before they tied the knot.
