If you were to meet a member of the royal family would you bow/curtsey etc?

[Blackcats7]

I support the royal family in general in that I don't want to see the institution abolished but I would like to see some changes which I think change will come in time with Charles and then William.
It occurred to me that in the highly unlikely/impossible scenario I ever met a member of the royal family I could not agree to curtsey or call them sir, ma'am, your majesty etc. I would want to be polite and friendly but I just could not show that deference to anyone.
Would you follow royal protocol or just be polite but not excessively deferential?

Absolutely not.

They deserve no more respect than the next man/woman on the street, IMO.

No, along with lots of people.

No.
I've met the queen, prince Philip, king Charles and Princess Ann and I didn't curtesy or bow.
I refuse to show subservience to another person, regardless of who they are or their social status.

"Wotcha, Brenda!" would have been a little more respectful

No I want not curtsy to the King or others

Think about if you met somebody else who is eminent and highly respected (whether you personally like them or not). David Attenborough, Judi Dench, JK Rowling, Denzel Washington, Tim Berners-Lee, Taylor Swift...........

Would you even dream of curtseying to any of these or thousands more big celebs? And these are people who are famous for things that they've actually done; not just for being born into a particular family.

No, and you can avoid them anyway. I feel like I spend all my life avoiding Royals from one country or another. But if they are going to be at a dinner or something someone will be having gleeful hysterics over it before it happens.
I tell you what’s worse our royal family you have to sort of spout poetry at them about how glorious they are, then you get given a horse or a watch or something. I hate it. Or if they open something the business owner has to give them something from his business despite poetry.
Only good thing that happened is Prince Andrew stopped turning up. He can get in the bin.

It's just custom to show respect. Not a big deal to me

What exactly are we showing respect for??? Absolutely crazy.

This is it: we must show respect for them because we must show respect for them. No reasoning at all; just circular 'logic'.

Absolutely not. It's ridiculous.

Absolutely not. I would never be in a situation where they'd be there.
Nor would I sing the National Anthem which I've avoided for 65 years.
Dreadful group of entitled freeloaders.

No

I'd probably end up doing a mixture of both. My knees would lock if I tried to courtsey, resulting in a bowed head, bared teeth and a high pitched screech.

I'd be reaching out trying to grapple for a royal arm whilst hissing "fucking wanker knees, help me up Mr King"
"Thank you King, as you were.... Oof knees eh?"

I think I'd be invited in to the family.

Nope.

I am very unlikely to be introduced to Royalty to be fair so it's not something I've ever lost sleep over.

I am of exactly the same opinion.

In the Maitlis interview she called him Sir at one point. The younger, more senior royals don't seem to want that.

I bet Princess Michael insists on it too, well the curtsy / bow thing, I don't think she wants to be called sir.

No never!
Basic politeness and manners is fine for everyone isnt it.
For those who say yes, why?

It always makes me smile when I see kowtow written as cow tow. I imagine a cow bowing down at someone's feet, front legs folded under, head right down.

(I'm not taking the piss of the error btw! It amuses me because of the funny image, not because I'm laughing at the person spelling it wrong)

I wouldn't be disrespectful, but wouldn't bow. The king is an adulterer who married and tormented a woman far too young for him. His current wife is no better, and only in the position (refuse to refer to her as Queen) through marriage. The rest are mostly hangers on. The only one I have some respect for is Princess Anne who seems to be extremely hardworking for her charities.

No. And in most ways I'm quite a royalist.

My knees would have bent for the deceased queen all on their own as I held her in considerable respect and felt a debt was owed to her for her service and sacrifice.

I'm afraid that the cash in bags scandal ( more than anything) Prince Andrew, apparent mismanagement of the Meghan Harry situation and past scandals have removed any royal gloss or desire to afford any particular special respect over and above that accorded to everyone else. I would be courteous and pleasant as it's best not to judge others when you don't know the full facts, but no, no deference beyond what I would ordinarily show as a matter of basic courtesy to other elders.

Nope.

I think they’ll get over it.

Absolutely. No. Way.

I was also thinking that not wanting to call royals sir or ma’am I would then be stuck having to awkwardly not use any name at all because using a first name would be over familiar if not invited to do so (one of my pet hates from companies is when they speak to me as if they know me) and Mr Windsor etc would be incorrect.
I used to have a similar struggle with my first set of in-laws. It felt cheeky calling them by their first names (I was young and had been brought up in an era when older people were always Mr or Mrs so and so or Auntie so and so) and calling them mum or dad felt weird so I went out of my way to never call them anything. It was all very tricky!

DH has met a few of them through work and was told in advance each time that bowing was unnecessary and not expected.

I see lots of clips of the current Royals at organised events, where no bow or curtesy is used and they don't bat an eyelid.

I think it was different with the late Queen somehow. She was from a different generation and it was somehow expected.

A handshake is respectful enough these days.

I would. I think it’s quaint and rather amazing that there’s an opportunity to curtesy to someone in real life and not just in a fairy tale. It won’t make money disappear from my bank account or my engineering degree fall out of my head. I won’t suddenly become lesser.

I view it like the ceremony of the keys or the tossing of the brides bouquet - not strictly needed in modern life but a fun tradition.