Almost everyone opens and closes a car door every day, but Meghan Markle caused a stir on Tuesday by closing a door herself, reports the BBC .
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , the Duchess of Sussex attended her first solo event since becoming a member of the royal family at the Royal Academy of Arts. Things seemed normal when she stepped out of the car after it was opened by an attendant for her, but then turned around and closed the door herself.
The simple motion, to close a car door, caused plenty of reactions on social media with many describing her as “humble,” while others argued jokingly that she was putting someone, most likely the man who opened the door for her, out of work.
Speaking to BBC’s Radio 1, etiquette expert William Hanson confirmed that Meghan’s actions aren’t a violation of protocol but that it is not part of the norm.
“Usually, if you are a dignitary, you have a member of staff to open and close a car door for you,” he said. “Meghan clearly just shut the door out of force of habit.”
The real reason for having someone open the door for high-profile dignitaries, such as any member of the royal family, is for security rather than because of some old tradition.
Meghan closed her own door! What is the world coming to??
— MW (@markwithers) September 26, 2018
Because I was so inspired by Meghan Markle, as I left the house this morning I shut my own front door.
— Mike Bubbins (@MikeBubbins) September 26, 2018
In this case, someone didn’t neglect their duty but was rather allowing Markle to introduce herself to her host which she did and then proceeded to close the door on her own.
This wasn’t the first time that the Duchess closed her own door, doing so at the launch of a charity cookbook for the Grenfell Tower recovery effort. She attended that meeting with her mother and husband and yet again she reached back and closed her own door, which didn’t seem to generate the stir that this particular incident did.
It’s clear that Meghan will be changing a number of things for the royal family, and was even rumored to have been spotted picking up after her dog in London, but no one could verify if it was actually the Duchess of Sussex. But there are only so many things she can change; the royal family is very serious about its traditions and security is very tight, and both of those reasons are why Meghan won’t be doing certain things.
While closing a car door is not off-limits for Markle, several things will be restricted for her, with selfies, autographs, and voting all off the table for the new royal.
