Princess Anne accused of 'breaking royal protocol' with Camilla in awkward greeting

Several clips from this year's Commonwealth Day have gone viral, including one that shows the Princess Royal 'snubbing' Queen Camilla.

Princess Anne arrived at Westminster Abbey alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales - Prince William and Kate Middleton - on Monday (9 Mar) for the annual celebration. According to the day's official website, a church service has been organised since the 1970s to 'reaffirm the Commonwealth's desire for peace among all peoples and nations'.

There, 75-year-old Anne is led by her nephew, William, in the direction of her big brother, the King, who is joined by his wife, Camilla.

Born just 21 months apart, Anne is the closest sibling to Charles, closely followed by the former Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward in fourth.

Anne curtseyed to her brother first (Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

After William grips the King's shoulder and plants a kiss on his cheek, the Prince turns his attention to Queen Camilla, making the same respectful move. Simultaneously, Kate also leans in to chat with her father-in-law, curtseying before kissing the side of Charles' face.

Whilst this happens, Princess Anne watches on, waiting for her turn.

Donning an ivy green dress, the mother-of-two then approaches King Charles, who embraces her warmly. Following a brief kiss, Anne curtseys to him, popping her left leg behind her right before squatting down.

The brother-sister duo catch up for a moment as Camilla, dressed all in red, passes by them to speak with another attendee.

Anne then approaches her sister-in-law, taking the Queen's shoulder and learning in for another kiss.

Anne kissed Camilla but did not curtsey (Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Surprisingly, however, the Princess Royal abstains from curtseying for Camilla as she did for Charles, prompting the Queen to turn away.

Charles, Camilla, William and Kate then stand as a four to welcome attendees and pose for photographs.

As we say, however, Anne refusing to curtsey for the Queen did not escape the notice of hundreds of viewers who tuned in to social media to see footage from the London festivities.

After a clip of the seemingly awkward interaction was shared to Reddit, one user noted: "Anne didn’t curtsy to Camilla, I was waiting to see if she would."

Another questioned: "Is she supposed to? I wasn’t sure. I was kind of thinking yes because Kate did."

A third jibed: "I love how Anne refused to curtsy to Camilla."

Anne isn't required to curtsey for Camilla (Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

"Kate curtseyed to Camilla. Did Anne? What's the protocol?" a fourth wondered.

To answer the latter question, Princess Anne is the only woman exempt from following the traditional rules that apply to others with regard to greeting senior members of the monarchy.

Not only did her husband's May 2023 Coronation change the rules so that Camilla would no longer be required to curtsy to anyone, but it also changed the protocol when it came to other senior royals curtseying to her.

Women who had been born into royalty - specifically Princess Anne, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - were moved forward in the chain of command following the King's Coronation.

Women born into royalty don't need to curtsey to Camilla (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

This meant they would no longer be required to curtsey to Camilla, who sits slightly behind them in the pecking order.