(From left) Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall & Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (© Leon Neal/AFP/GettyImages)

Kate must now curtsy to more deserving 'blood princesses'

6/25/2012

Somewhere in Buckingham Palace, sitting atop a floodlit pedestal (we imagine) is a highly potent, paper-based sleep aid called "The Order of Precedence in the Royal Household." This instruction manual detailing who curtsies and bows to whom has new edits, stating that the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton, must now curtsy to "blood princesses." But only if she's not with William. And if it's not the third Tuesday in July in an odd-numbered year or some other such convoluted directive we Yanks can't begin to fathom. This is everyday stuff for the royals, though who observe these formalities even in private. We can't even begin to unravel what you're supposed to do when Camilla's around.

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Is all this curtsying business overly convoluted?