YOU know something's wrong when your husband is heir to the throne and you still have to bend the knee to Fergie's girls.

According to the UK Daily Telegraph, the Duchess of Cambridge has slipped down the royal pecking order under revised rules of Court.

The Queen's updated “Order of Precedence in the Royal Household” stipulates that Kate must curtsy to the "blood princesses" when Prince William isn't around.

If Wills is there, she need only curtsy to the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Charles's wife, Camilla.

"Updating the Order of Precedence has been a simple matter of following the precedent set when the Prince of Wales married Camilla Parker Bowles,” a palace source told the paper.

The revised protocols will be a blow to the duchess and will make her acutely aware of her "commoner" background.

Still, it could be worse. Poor Prince Edward's wife, the Countess of Wessex, has to curtsy to everyone - even Camilla.