Last month, Billie Eilish and brother Finneas made headlines after being photographed shaking hands and animatedly chatting with members of the Royal Family at the No Time To Die premiere in London – namely Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.
Although they say a picture paints a thousand words, unfortunately, it doesn’t come with audio. But Billie herself is revealing how the meeting went down.
During her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host asked Billie about preparing to meet members of the Royal Family, particularly about the royal protocols that she had to follow.
“Oh yeah. There was a whole list of things I had to follow,” she shared.
“Did you pay attention to those rules?” Jimmy asked, to which Billie replied by shaking her head and mouthing “no.”
“I tried to [follow royal protocol]. I was planning on it and they were just so normal, like they didn’t make me feel like: ‘Oh, I’m scared, I can’t talk to them,” Billie explained, “They were very complimentary and they had all these questions for me and they were just very friendly and, like, funny and sweet.”
“I don’t know, I can’t complain, it was amazing,” she added.
In case you’re wondering what the royal protocols are exactly, the official royal family website says there really aren’t any – but notes that “many people wish to observe the traditional forms.”
For example, when meeting the Queen, it’s customary to first address her as “Your Majesty,” then call her “Ma’am” afterwards. For male members, it’s “Your Royal Highness” first before addressing them as “Sir.”
Traditional forms of greeting include neck bows for men and curtsies for women, however, the website says “other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way.”
While Billie appeared to have taken the less formal approach, it doesn’t seem like the Royals minded it too much.
