LONDON, Jan 12 — It’s not a common sight these days to see someone curtsy, what more if it was done by someone from the British royal family.

Kate Middleton was spotted on Sunday in a rare mid-curtsy, as she paid respect to her grandmother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II while she and husband Prince William attended a memorial service at Sandringham.   

“It is rare, but it indicates that this was the first time that the Duchess saw the Queen,” the editor of Majesty magazine, Joe Little, told People magazine.

“It would normally happen in private. Although they came from Sandringham House, they obviously hadn’t seen each other before Kate and the Middletons and their friends set out on foot.”

“It’s unusual to see it in public but not unique. That would have been the first communication between them on that day,” he added.

There is a common misconception that women in the royal family curtsy to each other, Little adds: "The only woman the women in the family curtsy to in the royal family is the Queen."

The young royal couple is said to have come from their own home, Anmer Hall, and met up at the Queen’s grand Sandringham house.