Meghan Markle attended the opening of London's new "Oceania" exhibition on Tuesday evening in what was her first royal solo outing since marrying Britain's Prince Harry in May.
Her attendance at the event comes just days after her first solo initiative as a royal, when she lent her support to the launch of a charity cookbook aimed at helping a community project formed following London's Grenfell Tower fire disaster last year in which 71 people died.
But it wasn't the absence of her fiery-haired husband at the exhibition that set tongues wagging, but the fact that the Duchess was captured closing her own car door upon arrival.
When the Duchess of Sussex arrived at the event, the car door was opened, she got out of the vehicle, and shook hands with the hosts before swiftly shutting the car door.
DUCHESS CLOSES DOOR: The Duchess of Sussex - #MeghanMarkle- closed her own car door and exchanged traditional Maori greetings during her first solo engagement at the #RoyalAcademyOfArt in London pic.twitter.com/8hwVo5og22
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) September 26, 2018
The former actress was praised on social media, with many commenting on the newbie royal's modesty, while others wondered if she'd broken royal protocol — "again".
Meghan made in headlines in June after she crossed her legs while sitting with Harry and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, at a Buckingham Palace reception for the Queen’s Young Leaders.
At the time, some armchair experts who were quick to take to the internet to pass on their views on Meghan's breach of "royal etiquette".
They, however, soon found themselves on the receiving end of some comments from other royal experts — real ones, this time — who pointed out that they had got their facts wrong.