How Kate Middleton Broke The Queen's Golden Rule By Mistake

It's well-known at this point that royal protocol is no easy thing to follow. From a strict dress code to a lack of PDA (via PureWow), the royal family's protocol presents a mountain of challenges that all must adhere to. It demands that one be present, laser-focused, and possess the metacognition and awareness surrounding their behaviors. After all, the world is always watching.

Take, for example, Meghan Markle. The highly-controversial Duchess of Sussex has broken royal protocol numerous times (72 times actually, according to Cosmopolitan) since becoming romantically entwined with Prince Harry. On one occasion, Meghan came under fire after she was seen closing her car door! Yes, what may seem like normal behavior to us regular folk is usually frowned upon as royals.

But hey, we all make mistakes — and even Kate Middleton is no exception. The widely-respected Duchess of Cambridge has even broken royal protocol on occasion, as evidenced in early November (via Express) when she took her coat off during a public engagement. However, that pales in comparison to the time she broke Queen Elizabeth's golden rule.

Adhering to royal protocol on a daily basis must be incredibly strenuous. To know your actions are essentially micromanaged and judged on a granular level definitely seems exhausting, but the majority of the royal family pull it off with style, ease, and grace. There's a reason why Prince William and Kate Middleton are so widely-lauded, as their exemplary behavior has thrust the patriarch and their three children near the top of the line of succession to the British throne.

However, despite being a modern superstar of the royal family, the Duchess of Cambridge once made a royal faux pas that certainly must've upset Queen Elizabeth. Via Hello!, Kate slipped up when she revealed what her and her daughter Princess Charlotte's favorite foods were. The incident occurred in 2018 during a visit to the Great Ormond Street Hospital when Kate spoke with then-four-year-old Rafael Chana, who was awaiting a heart transplant. When Chana revealed he likes olives, Kate replied: "I used to eat lots and lots of olives when I was little as well," adding that "Charlotte likes pasta too." Former royal correspondent for The Telegraph, Gordon Rayner, revealed (via Hello) this is frowned upon by Queen Elizabeth because — get this — "If she said she had a favourite meal she would never get served anything else."

Darren McGrady, a former royal chef, even described Her Majesty as a "total chocoholic" and noted her affinity for "chocolate biscuit cake."