Kate Middleton Honors Royal Protocol at Queen’s Lying in State Ceremony

As the Royal Family pays their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, has been seen following the Royal Protocol.

She was required to walk one step behind Prince William during Her Majesty's lying in state ceremony.

According to the Royal Protocol, Prince William outranks Kate as he is a blood prince and she is a royal by marriage.

Therefore, she is required to walk one step away from Prince William.

Kate could also be seen curtsying the Queen as she approached the coffin, always walking behind Prince William.

The Princess of Wales' royal manners were observed as the Royal Family paid their tributes to the Queen.

King Charles III and Queen Consort led the line, as required by the Royal Protocol.

In another sign of respect for the Queen, Kate wore a diamond and pearl leaf brooch that belonged to Her Majesty.

Though the Royal Family's website says there are no obligatory codes of behaviour when meeting the Queen, people are invited to observe the traditional forms.

In a sign of respect, women are required to do a small curtsy.

Similarly, Prince Philip always walked two steps behind the Queen as he, despite being a blood prince of Denmark and Greece, was of a lower rank compared to her.

Her Majesty will be lying in state in Westminster Hall until Monday, September 19.

Members of the public have been able to pay their respects to the Queen from 5 pm today.

Huge queues of royal mourners were seen stretching almost 7 miles, according to reports.

During the lying in state period, the hall will be open for 24 hours a day for members of the public to walk past the coffin and pay their respects.

The lying state period will last until 6.30 am on Monday.

Kate Middleton and the Queen shared a close friendship which Prince William praised in a recent tribute.

The two women were said to have very similar personalities which helped them form a 20-year bond.

The new Princess of Wales reportedly has very fond memories of her time with the Queen, who always provided her with guidance and support.

Both William and Kate are incredibly grateful for the relationship the late monarch had with her granddaughter-in-law, the Mirror reports.

Kate and Queen Elizabeth first met without Prince William present.

As the young prince was busy he sent Kate in his place to Peter Phillips, Princess Anne's son, wedding to his now ex-wife Autumn.

Beforehand, a royal source told The Telegraph that William would be attending another wedding in Kenya.

They said, “Prince William is going to be out of the country this weekend on a long-standing prior engagement.

It is an unfortunate clash but he spoke to his cousin Peter and he is fine with the situation.

His girlfriend will be going in his absence.”

This left Kate to pick up the reins and interact with the royal family.

After William and Kate were engaged, Kate talked about this first meeting with the Queen in an interview where she recalled, “Well, I first met her at Peter and Autumn's wedding.

And again, it was in amongst a lot of other guests and she was very friendly.”

William added, “She's very welcoming.

She knew it was a big day and everything was going on with Peter and Autumn were there and things and she'd wanted to meet Kate for a while so it was very nice of her to come over and say hello.”

The Duchess has since gone on to speak fondly of the Queen on many occasions.

For the ITV documentary Our Queen at 90, she told one story about the Queen at Christmas.

She said, “She really cares.

I can remember being at Sandringham, for the first time, at Christmas.

And I was worried what to give the Queen as her Christmas present.

I was thinking, Gosh, what should I give her?

I thought back to what I would give my own grandparents.

And I thought, I'll make her something.

Which could have gone horribly wrong.

But I decided to make my Granny's recipe of chutney.”

Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was not present at the ceremony.