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In the summer of 2016, Meghan Markle found her prince, and, while many young women dream of finding a prince of their own, Meghan actually did it quite literally. However, being in a relationship with a real member of the royal family comes with certain strings attached, and Meghan’s life had to change entirely in order for her to become Prince Harry’s wife. So while becoming a duchess might sound amazing in theory, it can also be really hard on a person.
By now, we all know that Meghan Markle isn’t a typical addition to the royal family; she isn’t British, she is divorced, and she worked as an actress in LA. For all those reasons and more, people around the world have been wondering if she will ever be able to really fit in with the British royal family. However, Meghan agreed to all necessary terms and changes in her life she had to go through in order to marry Prince Harry and as of May 19, 2018, Meghan is now officially the Duchess of Sussex. One thing we know for sure; her life will never again be the same. So let’s take a look at 15 things Meghan Markle was forced to leave behind immediately after she married Prince Harry.
She Had To Say Goodbye To Her Dog
Meghan Markle is a big dog person and while she was living back in Canada, she owned two furry friends; a beagle named Guy and a Labrador-shepherd mix called Bogart. Now, if you shed a tear during the film, Marley and Me, you should probably stop reading this right away because this story is quite heartbreaking for those who love their dogs more than anything in the world. Apparently, Bogart was too old and weak to travel to London so Meghan had to leave him behind. He is staying with her friends back in North America who are now Bogart’s new owners.
If you used to follow Meghan on social media, especially Instagram, which, by the way, you cannot do anymore because Instagram is another thing Meghan had to give up when she became Prince Harry’s wife, you probably know that Meghan used to post pictures of her dogs quite often as they were a very important part of her life. One can only imagine how hard it must have been to say goodbye to Bogart. Luckily, her other dog, Guy, moved to the UK with her, and he is a new furry addition to the palace where he lives among the royal corgis.
She Shut Down The Tig
Meghan Markle used to have a pretty cool and popular lifestyle blog called The Tig (named after her favorite wine). She used to write about food, travels, fashion, beauty, and all things that interest a young modern woman. However, when she married Prince Harry, she had to shut down her blog, as well as all her social media accounts.
Before deleting her blog, this was her last post: “To all my Tig friends: After close to three beautiful years on this adventure with you, it's time to say goodbye to The Tig. What began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun, and frivolity. You've made my days brighter and filled this experience with so much joy. Keep finding those Tig moments of discovery, keep laughing and taking risks, and keep being 'the change you wish to see in the world.' Above all, don't ever forget your worth — as I've told you time and time again: you, my sweet friend, you are enough."
And that was the end of Meghan Markle posting pictures of her favorite meals and new clothes, of her beauty hacks, and of the written descriptions of the interesting moments of her life.
No More Selfies With Fans
Unlike most other people who became members of the royal family through marriage, Meghan Markle used to be famous even before she started dating Prince Harry. She is a former actress and she used to work both in TV and film. However, most people know her as Rachel Zane – the role on Suits she used to portray from 2011 to 2018. Actually, most people now know her as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex but this was before her relationship with Prince Harry. Anyway, as a popular LA actress, Meghan Markle is quite used to taking selfies with her fans.
However, that is something she has been strictly forbidden from doing since May 19, 2018, when she officially became Prince Harry’s wife. On the other hand, taking selfies with fans can often be exhausting so maybe this isn’t something Meghan Markle will actually miss in the future but one must admit that it is hard to break some habits like this. After so many years of taking selfies with the fans all around the globe, it must feel strange to know that you will never ever do that again. Maybe it is one of those things that are annoying only until you start missing them when they’re gone.
No Colored Nail Polish
If you are a woman, you probably know how many color choices there are nowadays when it comes to the nail polish. If you are a guy, you can’t even imagine how many there are! We are talking thousands of shades of every single color imaginable to people so women’s choice in that department is more than huge. You might have noticed that lately, women seem to prefer stronger and more unusual colors than in the past.
While decades ago, the most popular nail polish colors were red and pink, today, there is nothing unusual about seeing a woman on the street with long turquoise or fluorescent yellow nails. But even if Meghan Markle enjoyed testing all kinds of nail polish colors in the past to find out which one best suits her personality and style, nothing of that matters anymore because she is strictly forbidden from wearing any nail polish that isn’t baby pink or nude.
For example, Queen Elizabeth II has been using the same nail polish for decades now, Essie’s Ballet Slipper and Kate Middleton uses a similar one as well. However, it seems that Meghan got used to this rule rather quickly as she was spotted wearing a similar shade of nail polish even before she married Harry.
No Social Media Accounts
You can’t really expect a member of the royal family to tweet about the new sofa they just bought, can you? But even if they wanted to do that, they couldn’t because the royal protocol forbids them from having personal social accounts. Independent reports: “Senior members of the monarchy have official Twitter and Instagram accounts, run by the social media teams of their households, which do not normally feature personal tweets or posts. The exception is the Duke of York who sometimes writes tweets himself but signs them 'AY.'"
Before starting her relationship with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle used to have Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, as well as her personal blog called The Tig. However, she had to say goodbye to all of them once she agreed to become a member of the royal family. The Kensington Palace confirmed she closed all her social media account and they added: “ She was grateful to everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years but had closed them as she has not used these accounts for some time.” In all fairness, even if she wanted to use them, she couldn’t, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when this happened.
She Can’t Cross Her Legs
When you think about it, crossing our legs is something we all do without even thinking about it. However, when you are a member of the royal family, there is the right way to do almost everything— sitting included. From the moment Meghan Markle become Prince Harry’s wife, she was forbidden to sit with her legs crossed. Every woman in the royal family must keep her legs and knees together while sitting, but they are allowed to cross their ankles, which is quite a popular pose among the royals called The Duchess Slant.
However, Meghan had mastered this a while ago as People reported: “She’s perfected the royal curtsy, and now Meghan Markle has taken on the duchess slant. During her official debut alongside Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton on Wednesday, Meghan was twinning with her future sister-in-law on stage as the foursome highlighted The Royal Foundation. The duo were both implementing the duchess slant, a distinctive move, in which the knees and ankles are clasped firmly tighter and the legs are slanted to the side, creating a flattering silhouette. The unofficial term, first coined by Beaumont Etiquette, is named after the Duchess of Cambridge and her now go-to pose. Her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, was also a fan of the pose.”
There Is A Proper Way To Drink Tea
Before Meghan Markle finally met the Queen, she had to master the proper way to enjoy her afternoon tea with Her Majesty. Etiquette expert, Myka Meier, explained to People how Meghan was coached to hold her teacup and behave during the family tea time: “To properly hold your cup, Meier advises pinching the top of the handle with your thumb and index finger, with your middle finger supporting the bottom of the handle. She also explains that the handle of the cup should always be kept at 3 o’clock and you should try to take a sip from the same spot to avoid getting lipstick stains around the rim. (This sipping-on-the-same-spot rule applies to whatever you’re drinking, not just tea.)"
"While you aren’t likely to use cutlery during tea (aside from the occasional butter knife), Americans typically hold their forks in the right hand, tines up, and only hold the knife to cut. However, royals eat the Continental way, holding their forks in the left hand, tines down, and the knife in the right. You also never put down your utensils while eating unless you need to take a drink or use the restroom, at which point you cross your silverware on your plate to let the wait staff know you aren’t finished eating.”
No More Voting
Markle used to be a pretty political person in the past and she often shared her political opinions on social media. During the last presidential elections in the United States, she posted a photo of Hilary Clinton on Instagram along with a long caption where she explained why she supported her. A while back, she also spoke out against Brexit, as well as many other political matters.
However, now that she is a member of the royal family, she is not allowed to publicly state any of her political stands and opinions. She also won’t be casting votes in the next elections to come. The U.K. Parliament website reads, “Although not prohibited by law, it is considered unconstitutional for the Monarch to vote in an election. The same goes for the rest of the family.”
So even though Meghan will eventually become a British citizen, she won’t be allowed to vote and, in the meantime, she will not cast her votes in the United States either. The entire purpose is to keep the Crown and the State completely separate, and you will see no member of the royal family leading a politically active life, Meghan Markle, or better to say, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, included.
She Can’t Play Monopoly
Did you know that there are some board games the royal family members are not allowed to play? Well, there are. This isn’t a strict royal protocol, but it is a rule the royal family has embraced eventually when they realized that a simple game of Monopoly causes the royal family members to fight among each other. Telegraph reports: “When Prince Andrew was presented with the property board game to mark his visit, he remarked: ‘We're not allowed to play Monopoly at home. It gets too vicious.’ He did not reveal what they play in its place when other families use the Christmas holidays to sit down with a board game.”
And while this all might sound like a joke, it is actually true. Meghan Markle will never have a chance to enjoy a game of Monopoly with her new family as the family members simply aren’t allowed to play it anymore. Whether this rule was set by the Queen herself or the family members all simply agreed together not to play Monopoly anymore remains a mystery. Luckily, there is still a great number of other fun board games that the royal family is still allowed to play and hopefully, it will stay that way.
She Can’t Eat Shellfish
When the royal family is dining out, they have a very strict set of rules to follow and not only those regarding their manners. According to BBC, while there are several kinds of foods that are not advised to be eaten in public by the royal family members, there is one group of food that is banned entirely: shellfish.
Business Insider reports: “The restriction comes from the fact that shellfish poses a higher risk of food poisoning than most other foods do. The family is also advised to avoid meat that's cooked rare, tap water in foreign countries, and overly exotic or spicy dishes. The preventative measure makes sense; a stomach bug has the potential to really mess with the royal's busy schedule because no one — not even Kate — can look good in public while dealing with food poisoning.
However, that doesn't mean that the whole family always sticks to these restrictions. While the Queen abides by the rules, other members, like Prince Charles, enjoy the occasional shellfish dish.” So technically, yes, Meghan can break this rule if she chooses to, but since she just joined the royal family, she will probably want to make a good impression and stick to even those rules she doesn’t particularly like.
She Had To Say Goodbye To Her Clothing Line
Meghan Markle is well-known for her unique clothing style, but she had to say goodbye to it because the royal family members have a strict dress code that all members of the family have to follow. In addition to that, Meghan also guest-designed a clothing line with Reitmans, but that is something she won’t be able to do in the future either. As far as the royal dressing code goes, it has to represent modesty and the clothes have to be elegant and classy at all times.
For example, the ideal length of the women’s skirts is knee-length; nude pantyhose are a must and Harper's Bazaar confirms that the Queen expects all female family members and guests to wear them at all times; gloves are to be worn during the public events and Bustle explains how to wear them properly: “Wear them en route to the event, when shaking someone's hand, standing in a receiving line, or dancing. You have to take them off when you're eating (even if it's just a quick canapé or nosh), and they're forbidden at the dinner table. To take them off, you have to pull them off finger by finger, and then rest them on your lap underneath your napkin.”
Her Home In Toronto
Obviously, when she decided to join the British royal family, Meghan Markle had to give up her home in Toronto. Telegraph reports: “Meghan Markle's Toronto home, where she lived while she filmed for Suits, is now on the market. Ms. Markle rented the home and lived there with her two dogs while she was working on the television programme. The house has been put on the market after announcing her engagement to Prince Harry and her move to the UK, and it is on sale for $1.4 million. While she was dating the Prince, who came to stay with her, she lived in the three-bedroom home on 10 Yarmouth Road. The relatively modest home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a two-car garage. She decorated it like a Californian bungalow in order to make it feel like home; she grew up in Los Angeles but lived in Toronto for seven years to film the show.”
However, no matter how attached Meghan might have been to her Toronto home where Prince Harry visited her on several occasions, she had to give it up and she will have to give up her American citizenship as well. That is just the way things are when you become a duchess.
Meghan’s Acting Career
Of course, no one can expect the Duchess of Sussex to be a professional actor as well – and even if she wanted to, Meghan couldn’t keep her old acting gig. It is a situation similar to that when Grace Kelly became Princess of Monaco after marrying Prince Rainier III. Meghan revealed her decision to give up acting for good during her and Prince Harry’s first joint TV interview with BBC.
She explained: “I just see it as a change… It's a new chapter, right? And also keep in mind I've been working on my show for seven years. So we were very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series, and for me once we hit the 100 episode marker I thought, you know what, I have - I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work I have done there and now it's time to, as you said work - work as a team with - with you.”
Meghan Markle spent years working in both TV and film and she spent 7 years portraying Rachel Zane in the popular TV series Suits. That was the last role Meghan, Duchess of Sussex would ever play.
No More Autographs
Being a former actress, Mehan Markle is probably used to giving autographs to people wherever she appears. However, since she married Prince Harry, she has been forbidden from doing that. As The Express points out, “The prohibition against royal autographs is in place because there's a risk of royal signatures being copied or forged. So, you won't see Prince Harry signing autographs for well-wishers either, although that hasn't stopped him in the past.”
However, there have been cases when the members of the royal family are allowed to break this rule. Town & Country reports: “These are said to be rare occurrences, but there are some occasions when the royals are invited to sign their names. They may sign visitors books' or official documents, as the Duchess of Cambridge did at the Stutthof concentration camp during an official visit to Poland and Germany.”
And while Meghan Markle sort of broke this rule in the past when she reportedly wrote a short message in the autograph book of a young girl named Caitlin Clark, as far as we know, she didn’t sign her name in the girl’s autograph book so she didn’t break the royal protocol entirely. However, there will be no more of Meghan’s autographs signed in the future.
She Can’t Go Out Alone
All members of the royal family are surrounded by their security teams almost constantly so they have probably gotten used to it by now. However, Meghan Markle didn’t grow up a royal so she could go out whenever she wanted with whomever she wanted – and that has changed completely the moment she married Prince Harry.
Royal police expert, Chris Jagger, told to Us Weekly: “Since her relationship with Prince Harry went public, she has been under full protection. The British style of security is relatively low-key though, with her protection officers specially trained to blend into all sorts of environments. Whilst on official public duties with Prince Harry, she will receive a high-security escort provided by the elite Special Escort Group — a motorcycle escort team that will lead her motorcade through London, elegantly weaving through traffic like a flock of swans.”
If Meghan wanted to drive her car by herself, she would be allowed to do so but before that happens, she will have to go through a special training and she will have to have a police escort. According to Jagger, both Meghan’s mother and father will be provided with their own security teams should they ever attend any event alongside their daughter.
References: refinery29.com, social.diply.com, dailymail.co.uk, abcnews.go.com, people.com, honey.nine.com, thesun.co.uk, bbc.co.uk, uk.businessinsider.com, rd.com, lifeandstylemag.com, hellomagazine.com, usmagazine.com, independent.co.uk
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