--- title: Meghan Markle Gave a Fan an Autograph Breaking Royal Rule description: While greeting the crowd on a visit to Wales, Meghan Markle skirted royal protocol by giving a fan an autograph. canonical: https://time.com/5109991/meghan-markle-autograph/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-19T18:39:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:54.125Z og:title: Meghan Markle Skirted Royal Restrictions with a Smart Move og:description: Royals don't give autographs, but that didn't stop Markle from taking up a pen og:url: https://time.com/5109991/meghan-markle-autograph/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ff536c88c82371/6988f8cf096a9412e96a12ad/meghan-markle-autograph.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5264 og:image:height: 2961 og:image:alt: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Visit Cardiff Castle og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meghan Markle Skirted Royal Restrictions with a Smart Move twitter:description: Royals don't give autographs, but that didn't stop Markle from taking up a pen twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ff536c88c82371/6988f8cf096a9412e96a12ad/meghan-markle-autograph.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meghan Markle Skirted Royal Restrictions With a Clever Move > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 19, 2018 6:39 PM UTC  Meghan Markle writes a note for 10 year old Caitlin Clarke from Marlborough Primary School as Prince Harry looks on during a walkabout at Cardiff Castle on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. Meghan Markle writes a note for 10 year old Caitlin Clarke from Marlborough Primary School as Prince Harry looks on during a walkabout at Cardiff Castle on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales.Chris Jackson—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jan 19, 2018 6:39 PM UTC Longstanding royal protocol [contends](http://www.instyle.com/news/the-royals-autograph-ban) that members of Britain’s most hallowed family don’t give out autographs. But for [Meghan Markle](http://time.com/5108303/meghan-markle-sustainable-fashion-philanthropy/), currently kicking off her first official round of visits to sites around the United Kingdom ahead of her [spring nuptials](http://time.com/5065910/prince-harry-meghan-markle-wedding-date/), protocol is made to be worked around. While greeting fans outside the historic Cardiff Castle [in Wales this week](http://time.com/5108140/meghan-markle-jenga/), the personable _Suits_ actress and Prince Harry’s fiancée spent plenty of time chatting with well wishers, receiving gifts, and even accepting a kiss on the hand from one gentleman. She also left a written note for one ten-year-old girl, Caitlin Clarke. Traditionally, protocol dictates that giving out a signature should not be allowed; the rationale is that it enables potential forgers to make use of royal handwriting. But Markle’s workaround was simple: instead of signing her name, she simple wrote “Hi Kaitlin” with a “K” on the paper provided. “My heart is still racing. I’ve never got a royal autograph before. This is going to make everyone jealous,” lucky Clarke [told PEOPLE.](http://people.com/royals/meghan-markle-broke-royal-protocol-hollywood-habit/) There is one precedent. In 2010, Prince Charles [gave his signature](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331747/Prince-Charles-breaks-royal-protocol-signs-autograph-Cornwall-flood-hit-family.html) to victims of a flood in Cornwall. Of course, Markle has not officially royal yet, so technically she should be free to autograph — and selfie, as she did sparingly in Wales — to her heart’s content. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5109991/meghan-markle-autograph/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5109991/meghan-markle-autograph/"},"headline":"Meghan Markle Skirted Royal Restrictions With a Clever Move","datePublished":"2018-01-19T18:39:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:54.125Z","description":"While greeting the crowd on a visit to Wales, Meghan Markle skirted royal protocol by giving a fan an autograph.","url":"https://time.com/5109991/meghan-markle-autograph/","keywords":["Newsfeed","royals","United Kingdom","royal wedding","meghan markle"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ff536c88c82371/6988f8cf096a9412e96a12ad/meghan-markle-autograph.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ff536c88c82371/6988f8cf096a9412e96a12ad/meghan-markle-autograph.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Visit Cardiff Castle","caption":"Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Visit Cardiff Castle","creditText":"Chris Jackson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5109991/meghan-markle-autograph/","name":"Meghan Markle Skirted Royal Restrictions With a Clever Move"}}]}] ```