Why Princess Anne Shut Down Queen Camilla's Invitation to Break Royal Protocol

She's a rule-abiding royal.

Princess Anne, who is widely known as the hardest working royal, appears to also be a stickler for the rules because, the royal just refused to break protocol even with Queen Camilla's permission. On Wednesday, Camilla was presented an honorary doctorate of literature by her sister-in-law Princess Anne.

Ahead of the ceremony at the University of London, Anne, who is also the university's chancellor, and Camilla made their way into the room where they were meeting the four other recipients of the doctorate. Although Camilla invited Princess Anne to enter the room ahead of her, the princess insisted that the queen go first as she "smiled and politely refused, allowing Camilla to enter first,” according to The Daily Express.

The reason why it would have been a breach of protocol for Anne to enter first is due to the order of precedence, which “is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance,” per the outlet. Meaning that Anne would technically have to allow Camilla, whose status as queen places her higher in rank, to enter a room first. The publication notes that the rule is typically practiced at state or formal engagements.

This isn't the first time Queen Camilla has played fast and loose with the rules. Just last month, the queen strayed from protocol by taking a selfie with a fan during an event at St Thomas's Anglican Church. There's technically nothing in the handbook about photos on iPhones, though, Queen Elizabeth hated smart phones herself, so it's safe to assume that selfies aren't totally encouraged.

King Charles has also been more lax with the rules since ascending to the throne. The monarch is even considering changing some of Elizabeth's longtime Christmas traditions ahead of the holiday season, according to royal expert Duncan Larcombe.

"I don't think Charles will exactly rip up the rule book, but there's a strong chance he'll loosen some of the rules," Larcombe told the Mirror. "I think a lot of the more stoic aspects of Christmas were down to the Duke of Edinburgh, who was a stickler for timings. But I think the king is more relaxed about these things."