Photo: ET Online
If you’re a public figure, you can expect to be driven around town in chauffeured rides but also have the option to take the wheel yourself, if you so desire. Members of the British Royal family are rarely seen out driving themselves, but they do occasionally break protocol.
It happened more recently at the dinner Prince Charles threw at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of his 70th birthday, when his two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry arrived behind the wheel. Their respective wives, Duchess Kate and Duchess Meghan, were in the passenger seat of two of the Rolls-Royces used by members of the Royal family on such occasions.
In case you’re wondering why neither opted to be driven to the gala, one etiquette expert has the answer: it’s because the Princes (and all Royal family members) tend to make a distinction between private galas and public functions. For the former, they will almost always drive themselves.
“Modern royalty tend to drive themselves to private parties and engagements because it is exactly that - a private event,” William Hanson tells the Daily Mail. “They are not attending specifically because of the titles and roles they play but because of their personal connection to the host.”
In this particular case, this means they opted to drive themselves because they were 2 sons attending their father’s birthday party, and not high-ranking members of the British Royal family.
“In this case they usually choose to arrive and leave with less fanfare than during their official ‘work’ engagements,” Hanson adds.
This might have been a private event, but it’s not like the Princes would have been out all night, downing drink after drink, the etiquette expert explains. Prince William has small children at home, and Prince Harry and Meghan are now pregnant with their first. Neither is in a position to pull a boozy all-nighter, so driving themselves seemed like a logical choice, too.
In case you’re wondering why neither opted to be driven to the gala, one etiquette expert has the answer: it’s because the Princes (and all Royal family members) tend to make a distinction between private galas and public functions. For the former, they will almost always drive themselves.
“Modern royalty tend to drive themselves to private parties and engagements because it is exactly that - a private event,” William Hanson tells the Daily Mail. “They are not attending specifically because of the titles and roles they play but because of their personal connection to the host.”
In this particular case, this means they opted to drive themselves because they were 2 sons attending their father’s birthday party, and not high-ranking members of the British Royal family.
“In this case they usually choose to arrive and leave with less fanfare than during their official ‘work’ engagements,” Hanson adds.
This might have been a private event, but it’s not like the Princes would have been out all night, downing drink after drink, the etiquette expert explains. Prince William has small children at home, and Prince Harry and Meghan are now pregnant with their first. Neither is in a position to pull a boozy all-nighter, so driving themselves seemed like a logical choice, too.
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