Zara Phillip's curtsey claim

07-08-2008 14:00

Britain's Zara Phillips claims people no longer know how to curtsey correctly.

The 27-year-old royal - who is the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth - admits she always curtseys when she meets her grandmother, and thinks many people do not realise the importance of the protocol.

She said to Britain's Majesty magazine: "I curtsey to her every time I see her. The thing with my grandmother is she is still my grandmother and she's very approachable, but she's also from an era where that was how it was done.

"But there aren't many people who know how it's done. I know because I have grown up with it."

Curtseying to the royal family has been a hot debating topic in recent years.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife Sarah curtseyed for Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, during a lunch for commonwealth leaders' wives last November.

However, former Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair was criticised in 1997 when she failed to perform the move in front of the queen during her first visit to Balmoral.