A lot of people dream of being royalty, marrying a prince or princess one day. It's a common fantasy, but to be honest it looks like an insane way to live. It's nice to have beautiful country homes to live in with acres and acres of land to frolick in, but it must get pretty tiring having to keep up with the many, many, many ridiculous rules.
Meghan Markle has had to follow certain strict procedures since she first became engaged to Harry, and now has even more to abide by now that they have officially tied the knot. However, the kids have it much harsher - having to follow the rules from the moment they know what the word 'rule' means.
William and Kate's eldest children, Princess Charlotte and Prince George, are both apparently required to learn more than one language at a young age. Earlier this year, in fact, PEOPLE magazine reported that Charlotte has already started learning Spanish, right as she starts going to school. Some have guessed this may be related to her nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion, who often speaks to the two-year-old in the language.
There are plenty of other strange rules for the children. Charlotte is never seen without a bow in her hair, and neither of them are allowed to have social media in the future - much like their new relation Meghan Markle. Harper's Bazaar Australia has recently reported that Charlotte is still relegated to sitting at the children's table for the time being, something her brother George once had to as well.
As it turns out, children in the family can only join the official table with their parents when they have learned the "art of polite conversation". The three-year-old Charlotte hasn't quite manage this yet, leaving her away from the rest of the family for the time being.
The strict royal protocol also confirms it's mandatory for Prince George to wear those shorts we keep seeing him in, a tradition for young men in the family that dates all the way back to the 16th century.
"It's a very English thing to dress a young boy in shorts," etiquette expert William Hanson explained to Harper's Bazaar. "Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on young boys is one of those silent class markers that we have in England."
"Although times are (slowly) changing, a pair of trousers on a young boy is considered quite middle class – quite suburban. And no self-respecting aristo or royal would want to be considered suburban. Even the Duchess of Cambridge."
George did wear trousers for the wedding, but you don't need to know a lot about royal tradition to know why that makes sense. All these rules must be very confusing for a child to handle, but I suppose both George and Charlotte are getting used to them after being around royalty for so long.
