While Elisabeth’s experience mingling with the Queen—who died in September 2022 at age 96—wasn’t exactly smooth, she’s not the first person to make a blunder when meeting the British royals. In fact, Kate Middleton avoided breaking royal protocol during a recent public engagement in Powys, Wales, when an attendee approached her with a pen and asked for her autograph.
“I can’t sign things, I’m so sorry,” Kate, 44, said in a video published by Hello! Feb. 27. “I can shake your hand, though.”
Indeed, members of the royal family are forbidden from giving their signature to prevent forgery, a rule the Princess of Wales is all too familiar with. After all, she found herself in a similar scenario in 2022, when she opted not to sign drawings she made with a group of schoolchildren at an event in London.
“My name’s Catherine,” she told the kids at the time, per People. “I’m not allowed to write my signature—it’s just one of those rules.”