10 things you should never say to a member of the royal family

Harrold says that a lot of these rules mentioned "go out the window" when you're talking to somebody online.

Since William and Middleton are regularly taking Zoom calls instead of face-to-face meetings, Harrold said they may be taking a more relaxed approach than they usually would.

"The rules go out the window when speaking online. For instance, when in a room with a royal, you're not meant to sit down until the royals sit first and offer you to do the same. But that's all changed now, online etiquette isn't the same with Zoom meetings," he said.

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Brad Pitt joked about Prince Harry's departure from the royal family in his acceptance speech at the BAFTAs — and right in front of William and Middleton, who were in the audience.

Reading Pitt's speech on his behalf, Margot Robbie joked that Pitt "is going to name this [award] Harry because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him."

The royal family usually keep their composure when dealing with the media, however, Prince Harry lost his patience with a Sky News reporter during a trip to a health clinic in Malawi last year.

"That short conversation, what do you hope to achieve through it?" royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills asked, in what appeared to be an unscheduled question.

"What? Ask them," Harry responded.

Mills' pushed on: "Is that why it's important for you to come and talk to them?"

"Rhiannon, don't behave like this," he answered.

However, you can discuss the weather and travel, according to Harrold.

Thousands of UK citizens are nominated by their employers to attend the Queen's garden parties with members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace and other royal residences each year.

While it would be impossible for the royals to speak to each person individually, Harrold said there is a pre-selected list of people that the palace will choose.

He added that the royals will then be "notified who they are meeting in advance" and briefed with all of the information on who they are and why they were invited.

Prince William and Kate Middleton attended their first joint engagement of the year shortly after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced they were resigning from the royal family.

According to royal correspondent Emily Andrews, questions about Harry and Markle were "politely ignored" during their walkabout.

Harrold added that the royals will rarely respond to a question with "I can't answer that" or "no comment." But rather, they are likely to either pretend they can't hear, or make a joke out of it.

"They're geniuses. There are no classes, no secret room in Buckingham Palace where they are taught how to behave," Harrold said. "It's very much about learning on the job, as we saw Meghan do when she joined the family in 2018."

Since Kate Middleton married into the royal family in 2011, there has been debate on how to properly refer to the duchess.

While her name is technically Catherine, making her "Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge," the press always call her Kate.

However, Harrold said that even though the palace now refer to her as "Catherine," she actually prefers to be called Kate.

"It's not just the media that call her Kate. Back then, we all knew her as Kate," Harrold said, referencing his time as a butler to Princes Charles, Harry, and William before the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's royal wedding in 2011.

"There was a period after the wedding that the palace started calling her Catherine. But when I knew her, if you had said Catherine, I wouldn't have known who you were talking about.

"It's not that it's not a name for a royal, but obviously they thought Catherine was more fitting, whether it was her decision or the royal household's," he added.

Harrold admitted that he once got so flustered during a phone call that he accidentally called Princess Anne "sir" instead of "ma'am."

"I was talking to her on the phone and I got so tongue-tied that I said 'will you hold on a moment sir,'" Harrold recalled.

"I wasn't hauled off to the Tower of London," he added, laughing. "It was a mistake."

Harrold insisted the royals wouldn't correct you if you made this mistake. After all, "we're all human," he said.

However, he did note it's important to acknowledge and learn the correct titles for each royal, and this doesn't just mean calling them "HRH." For instance, Prince Charles' official full title is "His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales."

"Prince Charles said to me years ago, he told me it's not about the person but showing respect to their title," Harrold said.

"It's about acknowledging something that's been around for more than a thousand years."

The Queen's official title is "Her Majesty the Queen" and so she wouldn't be referred to as "Your Royal Highness" or her first name, Elizabeth.

According to the official guidelines, you can call the monarch "Your Majesty" or "ma'am"(pronounced like "jam").

Harrold said if fans on the street were to call out to the Queen, it's possible Her Majesty would "pretend she didn't hear" them out of politeness, rather than just plainly ignore them.

However, there's one thing you can do to win the heart of the monarch — and it might just earn you a conversation with her.

"If you're meeting the Queen, and don't want to shout 'Your Majesty come here,' hold up a picture of a corgi," he said, "and she'll walk up to you. People hold up fake corgi teddy bears, posters, or they even bring their own corgis to meet Her Majesty."

"Technically speaking, you're not supposed to engage in conversation, or call out to them," Harrold said.

"Royals are supposed to begin the conversation. You'll notice they start it, so they can be in control of the time. They have to take control," he added, referencing the busy schedule Prince William, Kate Middleton, and other royals must adhere to when meeting fans on public walkabouts.

However, Harrold said this rule usually doesn't apply to children.

"I've never seen a member of the royal family ignore a child," he said. "If a child calls out to them, nine out of ten times they will go over. It's different to our grandparents' time, when children were seen and not heard. It's a different world now."