40 Strict Rules the Royal Children Have to Follow From Birth
Royal children have to follow protocol even before they're born! Per tradition, after the birth of a new royal baby, a sign with the gender and time of delivery is displayed outside of the Buckingham Palace gates announcing the news.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the church and, as such, all of the members of her family must be baptized — even Meghan Markle was anointed before her 2018 wedding. The ceremony is overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury and features Holy Water from the Jordan River.
The Honiton christening gown was commissioned by Queen Victoria for her first child's christening and has been worn by every member of the royal family since. The latest of the clan to don the gown was Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, but he wore a replica, because the original is too fragile to wear anymore.
Royal protocol states that women in the royal family must curtsy upon the first time seeing the Queen on any given day. Based on Princess Charlotte's adorable display on Christmas morning this past year, it seems like there's no age minimum on this formality.
Don't worry, she doesn't make her grandchildren or great-grandchildren call her Your Royal Highness. To them, she's simply "Granny" or "Gan-Gan." According to the DailyMail, Prince William even used to refer to the monarch as "Gary" — here's hoping that's still in rotation.
While it's pretty rare for newborn babies to travel abroad, royal babies are a little bit different and need to be ready to travel internationally at any moment. That's why, as soon as they're born, they're issued a passport.
The Queen is the only person in the United Kingdom who is allowed to drive a car without a driver's license, so even George will have to take his driving test (and pass!).
From a very young age, royal children are taught how to behave at public engagements. Although they're not full-time working royals yet, they attend engagements throughout the year, like family services, such as christenings or weddings, and more public events, like the Queen's birthday ceremony, Trooping the Colour.
Royal children attend etiquette training "as soon as they're old enough to sit at a table," according to etiquette expert Myka Meier. "They are raised having formal meals, going to formal events and practicing everything from voice levels to dressing appropriately to even, of course, how to curtsy and bow," she told People.
There's no rule around age here — if their parents are set to go on a royal tour, the kids will go too. Archie joined his parents on their South African tour at just four months old.
In order to preserve the line of succession, no two heirs can travel by plane together — unless the Queen grants permission. An understandable rule, if you ask us.
The "Windsor wave" is the royal family's fallback at public appearances, so naturally their children learn it at a very young age. Here, Princess Charlotte has it down pat, as she greets her subjects from the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Most members of the royal family are taught a second language as children — Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Prince William are all fluent in French! The tradition still stands, as the Duchess of Cambridge began teaching her children Spanish when Prince George was just two years old.
There are quite a few fashion restrictions on royal children, but the strangest is that young boys are expected to wear shorts in public. This rule is founded on the notion that pants for young boys used to be viewed as middle class (gasp!).
The royal family leans towards dresses for young girls — a tradition that is traced back to the Queen's own daughter, Princess Anne. "They tend to wear smocked dresses as little girls when they are in public with their parents," royal expert Marlene Koenig told Harper's Bazaar.
Back in the day, young Princes and Princesses were known to wear complimentary outfits when carrying out public engagements with their parents. However, based off of our family photo albums, it's fair to note that MOST parents abide by this rule.
Since the Duchess of Cambridge champions a number of causes that help children develop an appreciation for the outdoors, it's no surprise she encourages her own kids to spend time in nature.
Royal babies doesn't eat canned baby food, after all, they have a kitchen full of private chefs. Former royal chef Darren McGrady revealed that he made Prince William and Harry some of their first meals, which often consisted of steamed apples and pears.
The entire royal family, children included, avoids shellfish, because it's the most common food to cause food poisoning. Most kids aren't too keen on seafood to begin with, so we have a feeling the royal children don't mind this rule one bit.
While Queen Elizabeth and royal children before her were privately educated by tutors, beginning with Prince Charles all of the royal children have attended schools for their educations. Just this year, Princess Charlotte joined her big brother at Thomas's Battersea.
Prince Charles broke tradition by sending his sons to Eton College — a different school than his alma mater, Gordonstoun. We have a feeling Prince William will follow his father's lead and send his kids to the school that makes the most sense for them.
All members of the royal family are expected to be impartial when it comes to politics and cultural affairs (they're not allowed to vote or run for office either!) and it's no different for children. Prince George caused upset in 2019 when he was photographed in an England Lioness jersey, with critics saying he was supporting one UK soccer team over another.
You'll never catch a glimpse of little Archie playing Monopoly on family game night, as the board game has been banned from the Palace on account of the family becoming overly competitive when playing it in the past.
As the youngest — and arguably, cutest — members of the clan, royal children are generally tasked with performing the duties of page boy or flower girl at royal weddings. Recently, Prince George and Princess Charlotte stole the show as members of both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, as well as Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's.
Since royal children grow up with two full-time working parents, a nanny seems necessary. Even though the royals currently raising young children are reportedly more hands-on than past generations, the Crown employs experts like Maria Borrallo for assistance.
The Palace goes to extreme measures to ensure that the youngest members of the royal family are safe. Not only do they have individual security details, but in 2015 they issued an unprecedented statement reprimanding the press for deceitful tactics.
Like all members of the royal family, royal children must always accept a gift given by a well-wisher.
From toys to flower bouquets, royal children are often showered in gifts whenever they attend public events. Per royal protocol though, the Queen gets to decide what they can keep.
Women in the royal family are required to follow the Duchess slant when seated at formal events, while it's considered poor etiquette for men to stand with hands in their pockets. Oops, looks like a young William didn't get the memo!
In the royal family, black is a color that is reserved for mourning, so members of the family, including children, are restricted from wearing it to daytime events. One exception? The military suit Prince George donned as the page boy at his Uncle's wedding.
All members of the family have to travel with a black outfit, in case someone unexpectedly dies while they are away. Queen Elizabeth instated this protocol after she was caught without a black dress in Africa when her father passed away.
Per tradition, the men in the royal family are expected to rise through the ranks of one of the military branches. Prince Charles chose the Navy, as did his father, while Prince William opted for the Air Force and Prince Harry joined the Army.
Children typically make their debut for the Queen's birthday extravaganza after their first birthday. Most recently, Prince Louis joined his older siblings for the first time.
Even though royal children are in the public eye since the day they are born, they don't join the rest of the family for the Christmas church service until they're a few years older — Prince George and Princess Charlotte attended for the first time in 2019.
The royal children spend Christmas at Sandringham with the rest of their family, and the junior royals get their own table in their own room at the Queen's Christmas lunch.
The royal family follows the German custom of opening presents on Christmas Eve, which means no gifts on Christmas day. Instead, the family attends the aforementioned church service at St. Mary Magdalene Chapel on the 25th, followed by Christmas lunch.
In our mind, Princess equals tiaras. But per royal protocol, tiaras are reserved for married royal women. Poor Charlotte!
Although royals are known to have plenty of private nicknames for one another (Prince Philip refers to the Queen as Cabbage), it's considered improper for a royal to be addressed by anything other than their full name formally, which is why Kate Middleton now goes by Catherine.
Technically royals do not have last names. But in modern times, the royals have begun adopting their titles as their last names — William and Harry took the name Wales as children, while Prince George and Princess Charlotte use the surname Cambridge at school. But since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted for no royal title, the couple chose to give Prince Philip's surname, Mountbatten, to Archie.
They may rule the throne one day, but royal children are still children, and meltdowns happen. However, they are expected to follow a higher standard of manners than the average child.
1) Their birth must be announced to the public.
Royal children have to follow protocol even before they're born! Per tradition, after the birth of a new royal baby, a sign with the gender and time of delivery is displayed outside of the Buckingham Palace gates announcing the news.
Shellfish is off the table, for starters.
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