Meghan Markle Compares Learning Royal Protocol to ‘Old’ Movie ‘The Princess Diaries’

usmagazine.com:

 Not in Genovia anymore! When Meghan Markle joined the royal family, she quickly realized that learning protocol wasn’t like the movies — specifically one that’s still beloved by audiences around the world.“Joining this family, I knew that there was a protocol for how things were done,” the former actress, 41, said during the third episode of Harry & Meghan, which debuted on Thursday, December 8. “Do you remember that old movie The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway?

There’s no class [where] some person goes, ‘Sit like this, cross your legs like this, use this fork, don’t do this, curtsy then, wear this kind of hat.'”The Suits alum added: “It doesn’t happen.

So, I needed to learn a lot, including the national anthem. … It was baptism by fire.”The Princess Diaries, which hit theaters in July 2001, followed Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), a teenager who finds out that she’s actually the heir to the throne of the fictional country Genovia.

In one memorable scene, her grandmother, Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews), instructed her on the correct ways to wave at crowds, cross her legs and walk in public.Earlier this year, Meghan said her transition to royal life might have been easier if she’d been given similar instruction. “That would’ve been really helpful,” the Archewell cofounder told The Cut in August. “That would’ve been a very key tutorial to have had in advance of all this.”When the article’s author cited the movie The Prince & Me as an example of another movie featuring an etiquette instruction scene, Meghan said she hadn’t seen it.