5 British royal protocols that have changed over the years: Meghan Markle married Prince Harry despite being a divorcee, and Princess Diana and Prince Philip gave historic TV interviews

Jul 31 , 2021

British royal protocols have changed over the years, so how do they affect Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry today? Photo: AP Photo

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Even before Meghan Markle became a part of the British royal family and caused worldwide frenzy, people all over the world have been fascinated by the royals and their lives. Many of us are especially curious about the rules they have to abide by, both privately and in public. And while we may have come to think of royal protocols to be immutable as they are passed from one generation to the next, here are a few that have changed over the years.

Giving candid interviews

Sitting down with Meghan Markle alone, Oprah Winfrey asks her in the first interview teaser: “Were you silent or were you silenced?” Photo: CBS

For most of the British royals’ history, members simply did not give interviews to the media. In a time where people often use social media as their online diaries, this may be difficult to imagine, but in fact, the first real interview recorded of the royal family wasn’t until 1961, when Prince Philip spoke to the BBC.

Prince Philip waves as he is discharged from the King Edward VII hospital in central London, UK, in June 2012. Photo: EPA-EFE

Even then, the questions were quite measured and by today’s standards, considered soft. It was only with the airing of Princess Diana’s tell-all interview with Martin Bashir that some measure of leeway seemed to be afforded to members of the family – as long as nobody lets any skeletons out of the royal closet, obviously.

Roman Catholics can marry in

In a decree in 1701, members of the royal family were not permitted to enter into marriage with Roman Catholics. The monarch of the family is the de facto head of the Church of England, which is Protestant in nature. Throughout history, this prohibition led to many disruptions in the line of succession and validities of marriage, such as that of King George IV to the Catholic Maria Fitzherbert, which wasn’t recognised.

The statue of King George IV in the Botanic Gardens in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Archive

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