To think curtsying to the royal family is daft?

[BalletBunting]

I really understand why this practice still exists - especially seeing eg Theresa May sinking to the floor to William, a man half her age! I personally wouldn't dream of it, even if I met the Queen herself!

I agree, I'm not a fan of the whole whole royal status thing. Of course I'd be polite, shake hand etc but no curtseying for me (not that I'll ever get to meet any of them)

Kate curtsying to her grandmother-in-law too.
It does all seem very silly.

YANBU Just another example of wanky old pointless shit that prevents proper progress in this country.

People don't have to do it. They choose to behave like subservient idiots.

Although Kate does have a vested interest at least.

Agree OP.

I wouldn’t curtsey to any of them.

I can cope with the curtsying to the queen - she's old and old school so I can let that one go.

I can also cope with the family /courtiers etc curtsying in formal environments.

But otherwise, agree completely, random people working at charities curtsying to Kate/william/harry/Meghan etc just blows my mind. Ditto Teresa May et al.

And I'm a royal fan.

And it bothers you so much you posted it here

Did she yes that is silly

I might curtsey to the Queen but I really don't think I could bring myself to for the rest of them.

People don't have to do it. They choose to behave like subservient idiots.

Unfortunately, my mum was denied her degree ceremony for refusing to curtsey to Princess Margaret on collecting it.

The same Princess Margaret she'd served 18 pints in the bar, and had absolutely no desire to kowtow to.

thecatsthecats outrageous! I've heard of people being 'encouraged' to do it at work.

Of course no one has to do it but the social convention is there, and is IMO simply ridiculous.

Of course it's daft!

It's also horrible in that it's a tangible reminder of the bloody stupid notion that some individuals are inherently more worthy on the grounds that they've gestated in womb X rather than womb Y, which surely is completely ridiculous once you think about it. And it only seems to apply to inherited "worth" never that actually earned.

Off to curtsy to my senior managing director and see how long it takes him to ask if I'm alright though.

The convention is to bow/curtesy to the monarch isn’t it? I remember having a discussing with someone about how Americans aren’t expected to curtesy to her because she isn’t their head of state or something? I personally don’t mind it. I think it’s actually quite a shame that we have lost the curtesy. It’s great exercise, wed all have much perkier bottoms if we greeted each other with courtesies.

The whole idea of one human being bowing/curtsying to another sticks in my craw.

I know it's not actually the person, but the position they are curtsying to, but even so.

So maybe if it's the Queen as a 'Queen' that they're curtsying to, I can sort of get my head around that if someone if that way inclined. But all the others? Very weird and subservient.

I can understand the Queen a bit more but not Wills etc
I actually hadn’t realised people did to the others

I would probably curtsy to the Queen but not any other members. And I'm a fan of the RF.

I can't remember what the occasion was but there was something recently where all the royals were walking down an aisle with people turned facing them either side.

Nobody else was curtsying apart from one woman who was frantically doing it every couple of seconds when ever one of them passed her.

She looked ridiculous was literally bobbing up and down and up and down continuously as they all passed her.

Same as some pp's - not happy, but would curtsey to the queen as she is in her 90s and has served the country well and no need to make a scene.

The rest: no chance. If that gets me thrown out of a garden party (assuming I ever get invited to one again, I went to one about 15 years ago), so be it.

It’s optional. When I met the queen as a child as part of a performance we are told to curtsey but a whole bunch of students refused because it was too much like kneeling and they wouldn’t kneel outside of a mosque / temple. So we didn’t. She wasn’t bothered at all and neither were her many assistants.

It's not compulsory, and the royals dont 'demand' it. So if you want to make like Cherie Blair and not bother, don't.

Theresa May sinking to the floor to William, a man half her age! Of course, anywhere else on AIBU the idea that a woman had any sort of status because of her age would cause outrage.

The same Princess Margaret she'd served 18 pints in the bar, and had absolutely no desire to kowtow to.

Princess Margaret queued at a bar! I'm having trouble believing that - her minion would have fetched and carried, you are talking about a woman who couldnt run her own bath. Let alone carry cash for a bar bill.

I'd curtsey to the queen. It just seems polite and she's a lot older than I am (no, I don't curtsey to all older people: YKWIM. I do give them my seat on buses, let them go through doors first etc but that's by the by).
She's put the hours in.

I did curtsey to Princess Anne at my degree ceremony. Nobody threatened us or told us we had to; it was just the way it was. Some people didn't bow/curtsey and no fuss was made.

I really don't think I'd curtsey to the soap opera that is the rest of the royal family now.
And I feel Theresa May looks horribly grovelly when she does it.

It’s stupid and outdated. I might to the queen but the rest of them, no chance.