James Middleton's Protocol Faux Pas: Future Queen's Brother Gave Late Queen Elizabeth Extra Royal Title to the 'Giggles' of Others
Catherine, Princess of Wales' brother, James Middleton, shared in new book how the late Queen Elizabeth II put him at ease when he messed up royal protocol at an event.
James Middleton, 37, the brother of Kate, Princess of Wales, 42, shared in his new book Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life a touching encounter he once shared with his royal sister's late grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.
The author shared how he flew to the British royal family's wintertime estate, Sandringham, in Norfolk, one January for Princess Kate's birthday party. Pippa Middleton, 41, accompanied James on the overnight flight from France, and despite having met the monarch a few times previously, he wrote how he was more anxious than usual meeting Her late Majesty at her private home.
"We arrived breathless and flustered with barely time to run upstairs and change," he wrote. "I bounded downstairs two at a time and into the room where everyone was assembled for tea, almost running smack into Her Majesty."
James further added how the teatime rendezvous with the Queen and Prince Philip left him frantically rehearsing royal protocol en route.
"All the way up to Norfolk I’d been rehearsing my lines, muttering: 'Your Majesty' for the Queen; 'Your Royal Highness' for the Duke of Edinburgh. But in my blind panic, I blurted: 'I'm so sorry we're late, Your Royal Majesty.'"
Within the ancient style of addresses for the British royals, Elizabeth II, as the reigning monarch, was always "Her/Your Majesty" from the time of accession to death. Only a king, reigning queen, queen consort or dowager can be addressed as "Majesty." All other blood or titled royals are His/Her Royal Highness.
But, in the words of one royal insider, "It is very easy to get flustered right before the actual meeting and completely get it all wrong even though you had it all correct right before!"
With the "royal" in front of "Majesty" unnecessary, James further added how the room couldn't help but lightheartedly chuckle at the common mishap.
"I heard a snort of laughter and looked past the Queen to see everyone in the room stifling their giggles," he shared in the new book.
Having experienced such occurrences likely "hundreds if not thousands of times" before, he further added how Her Majesty stated, "'Oh, how lovely to see you, James.' I'd met her several times, notably at my sister’s wedding, and she was always welcoming."
"'You must be hungry,'" the Queen asked the then-Duchess of Cambridge's brother. "Make sure you have something to eat."
Catherine's inner sanctum outside of Prince William and her three children has only contained her immediate family members for years.
"The circle of trust is tiny," a friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales spilled. "She has been surrounded by Carole and Michael, and Pippa and James have obviously been there for her as well."
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Us Weekly reported on James' book.
