Ever wanted to be a princess?
Well now you can by learning what it really takes to become a royal family member.
From walking like a duchess to knowing your table manners, Australia’s etiquette expert Treska Roden shows you how to behave, sit, walk, and even eat like a royal.
Appearing on the Today show, Ms Roden – who runs ‘The Duchess Effect’ workshops in Sydney – demonstrated a run-down of the dos and don’ts of royal etiquette.
The Duchess slant: Meghan Markle pictured having her knees and ankles clasped firmly together, with the hands on the side of her legs
‘It’s a beautiful course for ladies to do – to show them what Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle had to go through before they became part of the royal family,’ she said about the classes she runs on royal etiquette.
PERFECT YOUR POSTURE
To walk like a princess, you must have your chin up, shoulders back and engage your core before you take your steps.
THE ROYAL GREETING
Rather than vigorous handshakes, the royal handshake should only be a few light pumps.
‘You do two to three pumps from the elbow. Hands are perpendicular to the ground,’ Ms Roden said.
Rather than vigorous handshakes, the royal handshake should only be a few light pumps
Australia’s etiquette expert Treska Roden – who runs royal etiquette classes in Sydney – shows you how to act, sit, walk, and even eat like a royal
Engage your core and walk with your chin up – and always tip the soup into your mouth
THE DUCHESS SLANT
Meghan Markle has taken on the ‘Duchess slant’ – where the knees and ankles are clasped firmly together, with the hands on the side of your legs.
‘You keep your knees together, you keep your ankles together, and you can have your [hands] on your lap or just to your side,’ she explained.
TABLE MANNERS
‘Every time between eating and drinking, you would dab the sides of your mouth so you don’t get any food scraps onto your glass,’ she said.
When eating soup, you must ‘scoop the [pumpkin] soup outwards, away from your body’ before you ‘tip the soup into your mouth’.
To eat neatly, you would run the bottom of the spoon along the edge from the inside of the bowl so you don’t get any dribbles.
When drinking tea, you must pinch the handle – don’t put your fingers throw the handle. And when using a napkin, you can only dab the sides of your mouth, not wipe
When eating soup, you must ‘scoop the soup outwards, away from your body’ before you tip into your mouth
With cutlery, the knife is usually held in your right hand and the fork in the left, with the tines down.
‘Elbows locked into your sides [when eating with cutlery],’ she explained.
When you pause during eating but have not finished, the utensils are placed in the ‘resting position’, with the knife and fork crossed in the centre of the plate.
And what comes first when preparing scones? The jam or cream?
‘In England, the region where the cream comes from – they are very protective of their cream so they cream first. Australia? We can do whatever we prefer,’ she said.
DRINK TEA LIKE THE QUEEN
‘You keep your pinky in and you pinch the handle. You do not actually loop your finger through the handle,’ she said.