The engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seems to be all the world can talk about right now, and for good reason! It's so exciting that an American woman will be marrying into the royal family, and the fact that she's an actress we have all been watching for years is just the cherry on top!
We've all been keeping up with the engagement, and trying to see how Markle will adapt to the royal rules. So far, she's already come under fire for breaking rules about her hairstyles, but apparently that hasn't deterred her from continuing to be her own person.
The royal-to-be broke protocols that have been in place for decades, but it was all for a 10-year-old girl. Caitlin Clark was lucky enough to meet the engaged couple on January 18th, outside of the Cardiff Castle in Wales. Excited to meet Markle, she quickly asked for an autograph. While it may seem like a simple request, it is a strictly forbidden practice in the royal family.
The reason they don't give autographs isn't because they don't want to appreciate their fans, but because of something a lot more serious.
The royals have always avoided giving autographs, not because they don't enjoy spending time with their admirers, but because it's actually a safety issue. They are trying to protect themselves from identity theft. While you might think it's annoying to deal with a stolen credit card, imagine how much damage someone can do with the royal family's information.
By not handing out their signatures, they hope that it will make it hard for forgers to copy their handwriting.
Markle just wrote a very little note for Clark, it said "Hi Kaitlin" with a little heart and a smiley face. Even though Markle misspelled Clark's name and didn't even sign her own, she was thrilled to have received the rare autograph. "I don't really care [about the spelling.] My heart is still racing. I've never got a royal autograph before. This is going to make everyone jealous," Clark said.
Markle has been acting for a long time now, so it's likely that she has signed many autographs in her day. There is a bit of a loophole where she didn't actually sign her name, so really she only broke the rules a little bit.
It's probably going to be the last autograph for quite a while though, so Clark should make sure she hangs on to it!