Queen Elizabeth’s goddaughter has revealed the some of the secrets surrounding royal protocol.
Victoria Pryor – who is the Queen mother’s great-niece, and the daughter of Margaret Rhodes – spoke about the dos and don’ts when staying with royal family during a new documentary titled ‘The Queen and her Cousins’, which aired on ITV on Monday (10.05.21).
Speaking to documentary host Alexander Armstrong, Victoria said the family are just “ordinary people” and revealed how many times guests are expected to “curtsey” when in the presence of the monarch.
She said: “If she’s staying then the first thing in the morning you curtsey, and then you don’t have to curtsey after that. That’s the etiquette.”
Victoria’s mother Margaret was one of the monarchs closest friends, and was a bridesmaid at her wedding to Prince Philip – who passed away last month at the age of 99 – in 1947.
During the documentary, Victoria also spoke about the lack of airs and graces among royal friends.
She said: “We’re all just perfectly ordinary people. The Queen Mother and my granny were very close and the Queen Mother was unbelievably fond of mummy and her siblings. Mummy called her [the Queen] Lilibet but we call her Ma’am. I mean the Queen would’ve loved just to have been a country lady with her animals.”
Elsewhere in the programme, Lord Ivar Mountbatten echoed Victoria’s sentiments about the normality of the family.
When asked if they’re “a normal family”, Lord Ivar said: “Yes, absolutely. That’s what everyone seems to forget. We all have our ups and downs, everybody has their own internal arguments – it’s the same anywhere.”
The documentary also provided a surprising revelation when host Alexander revealed that he had uncovered a new royal cousin who can now be added to the family tree.