Kate and Meghan

Being a working member of the Royal Family means that Princess Kate has to abide by many rules – some of which are pretty strange – but these days Meghan is free to break them

The senior royals, who officially represent the monarchy at their public engagements are said to be subject to some pretty strange, and very formal rules. Princess Kate rarely puts a foot wrong in this regard and has spent years learning all the formalities and customs that come with being royal as the future Queen.

Although Meghan had spent years living in the spotlight as a successful actress when she and Harry got together she struggled to understand some of the new rules she had to abide by. She’s been open about these difficulties since stepping back as a working royal and pursuing financial independence. Recently, eagle-eyed royal fans spotted that Meghan is doing things her own way – as she broke a major royal rule that Kate still has to make sure she keeps, whilst undertaking a charitable engagement in a private capacity.

The particular royal rule that Meghan proved she no longer has to keep is the giving out of autographs. According to The Express, during a recent visit to the Children’s Hospital, Meghan took the time to take Polaroid photographs with some of the young patients, before adding her signature and handing them out as a sweet keepsake for the children.

While hospital visits are common for royals to make, they are never seen handing out autographs, with some speculating that this rule is in place to ensure that no fraud is carried out. Last year, at the very first Children’s picnic of the Chelsea Flower Show, Kate was reportedly forced to refuse a request for her own autograph by a youngster who was in attendance.

“I can’t write my name, but I can draw” Kate is reported to have said, adding that “My name’s Catherine. I’m not allowed to write my signature, it’s just one of those rules.” While Prince Harry has previously said that many of the times it was claimed that his wife “broke royal protocol” were incorrect, Meghan herself has noted that joining the monarchy was somewhat of a “baptism of fire” for an independent American such as herself.

“Joining this family, I knew that there was a protocol for how things were done,” she explained in the six-part documentary series that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made with Netflix. However, there was no formal training, Meghan claimed, and so she was left figuring out the proper way of doing things as she went along. “There’s no class [in which] some person goes, ‘Sit like this, cross your legs like this, use this fork, don’t do this, curtsy then, wear this kind of hat,'” Meghan explained, adding. “It doesn’t happen. So I needed to learn a lot.”