Kate Middleton wouldn’t break protocol for a group of sweet school children asking for her autograph.
The Princess of Wales reportedly politely declined when youngsters asked for her signature while making a surprise visit to the Chelsea Flower Show for the inaugural Children’s Picnic in London on Monday.
“My name’s Catherine. I’m not allowed to write my signature, it’s just one of those rules,” she was overheard saying, per People, when a curious child asked why she wouldn’t write her signature.
However, the 41-year-old wife of Prince William didn’t leave the eager beavers completely disappointed and instead created some nice drawings for them.
“I can’t write my name but I can draw,” Middleton explained to the kids.
She then proceeded to sketch a flower for a 7-year-old girl named Ruby, a tree for another student and a pond encircled with plants for a third kid.
Members of the royal family are not permitted to sign their autographs for fans to prevent the risk of forgery, according to the Daily Express, and the royal rule has been in play for years.
William, his father, King Charles III, and other British royals are not allowed to scribble their moniker, though the 74-year-old monarch broke protocol in 2010 when he signed an autograph for a victim of devastating floods, writing, “Charles 2010.” He has not broken protocol since.
While scrawling their name for subjects is forbidden, they are permitted to take selfies with admirers.
Middleton is a stickler for the royal rules — though she did break protocol in April when she rocked red nail polish to a church service on Easter Sunday instead of the accepted light pink hue or clear coat worn by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, often resisted the regulations.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were accused of breaking the rules when they held hands at the Queen’s funeral in September 2022.
However, a body language expert claimed they were allowed to hold onto each other because they were no longer working as royals following their 2020 resignation from their royal duties.
“Harry and Meghan are grieving relatives and are under no obligation to follow royal protocol,” body language expert Inbaal Honigman told The Daily Express last year. “Their hands are there to support one another emotionally during this loss.”
Markle, 41, also disregarded the rules when she carried her own bouquet of flowers while mourning the loss of her husband’s grandmother.
“From my perceptive, it makes sense [Meghan and Harry] wouldn’t be holding on to large items given to them from the public just on a security level,” royal expert and political commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti told Pvnew at the time.
Sacerdoti shared that unlike the “Suits” alum, William, 40, and Middleton know to follow the rules for their own safety.
“William and Kate know how things are done,” he said. “They take the bouquet and they pass them to the aides close behind them. They can’t carry all those flowers. The aides are going to put them with the other tributes. There can be a security risk handing things off.”
Other ways Markle has gone against the grain over the years include when she sat with her legs crossed, when she didn’t wear pantyhose, when she closed her own car door, when she wore a messy bun and, ironically, when she signed an autograph for a fan in 2018.
