Could You Survive a Night at Buckingham Palace Without Breaking the Rules?

The Royal Household strives to make things easy for guests. In addition to the three above items, you'll probably also be asked to advise the staff on food allergies or accessibility needs, which will almost certainly be accommodated.

If the invitation comes from the Queen, then in theory it's a command to appear. However, it's been a long time since the British monarchy beheaded anybody for disobedience to the crown. You're probably safe RSVP'ing in the negative ... but why would you?

It's a sign of the Palace's and the family's accessibility that 45 percent of people invited to the Palace are commoners being honored for charity work. This is as opposed to foreign royalty and nobility, Nobel winners, celebrities, and the like (who still visit, obviously).

Garden parties have a set time at the Palace. Guests arrive starting at 3:15 p.m., and the royal family members who'll be appearing arrive at 4.

Technically, there are looser standards for visitors than for women of the Royal Family. Women can even wear good-quality trouser suits. But many female visitors prefer to follow the same rules that the women of the palace do, and that means dresses or skirts below the knee. No cleavage showing, either.

You'll notice that in the text of Shakespeare plays, the entrance of a royal person is marked "Enter with fanfare" or "enter with flourish." This referred to trumpets heralding the arrival. Those days have passed. Often, nothing marks the arrival of the royals except, perhaps, a stir among the guests.

The deep curtsy with the hem held out, like little girls still like to do, isn't really practiced by the royal women. They keep it simple and subtle.

This is the exception to the "shallow curtsy" rule of thumb. The Queen, being England's reigning monarch (and 90 years old, to boot) merits a deeper curtsy.

Only the Queen is "Your Majesty." The princes are "Your Royal Highness," and then "Sir" on second and following addresses.

According to the rules, a member of the royal family is not to be touched. Sounds standoffish, but it probably saves the poor people a lot of "petting" by adoring subjects! However, a royal may offer you his or her hand for a handshake; by all means, do so. Just let go promptly.

This is the formal address for dukes and duchesses. On second address, she would simply be, "Ma'am." (Sounds a bit stodgy, but she *is* married.

Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837. Before that, Buckingham Palace was "Buckingham House," one of the royal properties -- and not as large as it is today.

Kate Middleton loves wedge heels, but the Queen apparently doesn't. Reportedly, Kate only wears them when she knows she won't be seeing her grandmother-in-law.

The Queen's Gallery stands in place of the Palace's chapel. The chapel was destroyed by a bomb in World War II

This is a bit of a trick question. Buckingham Palace was called "the Queen's House," but this was because long before Queen Victoria's day, Queen Charlotte used it as a retreat. (Her husband, King George III, eventually went a bit mad, so we imagine she needed a retreat!)

A royal female walks down a staircase with her chin parallel to the ground and her hands at her sides. If needed, she may touch the banister, but shouldn't grip it.

A royal female must not cross her knees. The ankles are OK. Keeping most of the legs together preserves modesty.

It's a myth that upper-class Brits still drink tea with the pinky out. Even the royals don't do this; it's too affected!

John Nash was the preferred architect of King George IV. However, he was dismissed from the expansion project because of serious cost overruns, and replaced by Edward Blore. So much for "money is no object," even for royalty!

State dinners are one of the most elegant and formal ones that the Palace hosts. So this is a time to really be on your beest behavior.

"White tie" means full evening dress, suitable for the most important dinner and for ballroom dancing. Yes, for men it really is still standard to wear a white bow tie.

A female royal should only wear clear varnish or pale-pink nail polish. Violet and red aren't acceptable, and don't even suggest a "fantasy color" like midnight blue.

Here's the breakdown: The Windsors don't eat shellfish in any formal setting because of its tendency to cause food poisoning. The Queen just doesn't like garlic, and she also finds pasta and potatoes too informal for the royal table.

Royalty and nobles enter and exit rooms (at formal occasions) according to their rank, or titles. To refer again to Shakespeare, you'll notice this in "Macbeth" when Lady Macbeth tells the nobles, "Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once." Macbeth's coronation banquet has gone so badly that she just wants everyone to clear out.

We mention that this is "a very formal event" because tiaras aren't everyday (or every evening) wear for any royal female. However, the rule is , a married woman wears a tiara, while a single woman does not. If she is bareheaded, she's "on the market." (But probably not for you, commoner!)

If you *were* finished, you would lay your utensils diagonally with the handles at the 4 o'clock position. We suspect these signals are used in high society overall, not just at Buckingham Palace.

The rule is that when the Queen finishes her meal, no one else may eat. We suspect the Queen, being strictly brought up, is courteous about this, and doesn't rush through a meal or stop eating early just because she isn't hungry.

Trooping the Colour is an annual event in which military units are on parade in London and are inspected by the Queen. It usually involves a Royal Air Force flyby. Afterward, the Windsors acknowledge the crowds from the balcony on the East face of the Palace.

The form of address is the same as for the princes. This is a little confusing, because Prince Philip is usually referred to as "the Duke of Edinburgh." But Queen Elizabeth issued "letters patent" making him a prince in 1957 -- it wasn't automatic on his marriage to a queen.

Princess Margaret, though younger than Elizabeth, died in 2002. She had been a heavy smoker, unlike her sister, which contributed to her early death.

Buckingham Palace does, in fact, have guest bedrooms. You're probably someone pretty special to be invited to stay the night, though!

Photography is forbidden at the Palace. Debrett's Peerage notes, with some resignation, that in the age of smartphones it's impossible to entirely to keep people from taking photos, "but these should have no place at formal events, and are frowned on at garden parties."

According to a former Palace chef, Princes William and Harry were known, in their younger years, for American-style fast food and junk food. (Possibly that's changed a bit, though, as they approach midlife).

"Mews" is a British word that can mean stables, a living area built around stables, or possibly an aviary. Buckingham Palace's Royal Mews holds its horses, carriages and cars. Grooms and chauffeurs work there.

Yes, Queen Elizabeth's everyday breakfast is Corn Flakes with English Breakfast tea. For the uninitiated, that's a mix of Darjeeling, Ceylon and Kenyan teas.