21 Outdated Rules The Royal Family Still Have To Follow To This Day

People are endlessly fascinated by the Royals, even if they disagree with the idea of having a monarchy. Lots of people see it as an outdated concept and a waste of taxpayer money, while others see the Royals as representative of the spirit of the country whose role is very important. The British Royal family is easily the most popular one in the world, and it is not hard to see why when you look at history. Britain invaded and conquered many countries, so their Royal family was the Royal family of many countries. Even today, the Commonwealth countries recognize the Queen as their monarch. Every once in awhile there will be a headline about a royal from another country, but no royal family has the high profile that the British one does. But it is not only the glitzy glamour of being a royal that makes people so interested in them, they have provided a lot of tabloid fodder over the years which also captivates the public.

The role of the royal family has changed over the course of history, and it is more symbolic than anything these days. What a lot of people may not realize is that current day royals have to adhere to rules that were created many years ago. Most people realize that the Royals have to present themselves a certain way in public, but there are a lot of little funny rules that is unknown to the general public. Read ahead to see what rules the British Royals have to adhere to still to this day!

21 Royal Etiquette Dictates That Royal Women Cannot Take Their Jackets Off In Public

It may come as no surprise that members of the royal family have very strict rules about their outfits and how they present themselves in public. And as always, women usually have stricter clothing rules than men.

When a female royal family member is at public events and outside, she cannot take her jacket off.

This is because it is seen as improper, and also shows a lack of modesty. Which is nuts when you think about how modest the clothes they wear under the jackets are. But being a royal is all about propriety and decorum, and this includes doing things that don't always make sense beyond the fact that they are just for show. Can you think of a time that you have seen the Queen without some kind of jacket on?

20 No PDA Ever, Not Even Hand Holding

The romances of the royal family members captivate people around the world, and their relationships are always under a microscope by the public eye. But you will never see them be affectionate in the way that we may see other couples, well-known ones, and ones in our personal lives.

Because royal family members are supposed to seem almost superhuman and ethereal, they are never allowed to be photographed or seen publicly doing any kind of intimate or affectionate gestures to each other.

That would be too uncouth for a royal! You will never see a picture of them holding hands, and forget seeing them ever kiss casually! Of course, this is for romantic relationships. You can find a lot of pictures of them being affectionate with their children in public.

19 When Prince George Turns 12, He Will Always Have To Travel Separately From His Father Prince William

And Prince William, in turn, is not allowed to ever travel with his father, Prince Charles. This is a very old rule for the royal family, and it has a very practical reason unlike some of the other rules that they have to follow. Prince Charles is the heir to the throne when the Queen finally either passes away or gives up the throne to her son. And then after him, it is Prince William and after Prince William, Prince George is in line. The reason these three can never travel together is that, should something terrible happen, that would liquidate at the next two people in line for the throne. It is similar to why some parents will not travel together, so that should something happen their kids are not left without both parents.

18 Every Member Of The Family Has To Follow A Strict Dress Code - Even The Kids

Prince George, while he is a little one, can only wear tailored shorts, never pants. This is because it is seen as a sign of low class for a young boy to wear pants. The women can never take their jackets off in public and formal events, as we previously mentioned.

The women are also only allowed to wear nude nail polish, nothing too loud or sparkly. That would be way too flashy for a female in the royal family.

The Queen must always wear gloves, and this is also for practical reasons, it is for basic hygienic reasons, she shakes a lot of hands when she has to go in public and too formal events. You will also be very hard pressed to find a member of the royal family wearing jeans. They were outright banned from denim, and while that has eased up these days they still are not really supposed to wear them.

17 When The Royals Travel Abroad, They Must Pack An All Black Outfit In Case Of A Sudden Death

You would think with the amount of money that they have at their disposal, they can just buy a funeral outfit should they need one in a pinch. But these rules are not all here because they are practical and make sense, this is the royal family we are talking about. The royal family has a busy schedule traveling around the world, and their outfits are planned weeks if not months in advance. One outfit that is brought on every trip is an all-black outfit. This is so even if they are away and a member of the royal family passes, they must be immediacy be prepared to appear in public in all black - a sign of mourning. With the Queen getting up there in age we assume that the all-black outfit has become even more important to bring.

16 If The Queen Moves Her Purse From Her Left Arm To Her Right While In Public, Her Aides Know To Take Her Away From Whatever Conversation She Is Having

Lots of big public figures have little signs they can do so their aides know what to do in the situation. One important signal from the Queen indicates that she wants to be politely removed from the conversation she is having. As you can imagine, when she makes her public appearances and goes to formal events everyone wants to talk to her. Some people probably get carried away and don't know when to stop. Well, the Queen knows when a conversation is over even if the other party does not.

She simply moves her purse from her left arm to her right, and her aides know to quickly whisk her away.

Can you imagine if she took the time to have a full on conversation with everyone that tried too?

15 When Having Dinner With The Queen You Better Eat Faster Than Her, Because When She Is Done Eating Everyone Is Done Eating

You can imagine that having dinner with the Queen would be a very formal affair, with etiquette and proper decorum being of the utmost importance. One big rule about having dinner with the Queen is that when she is finished eating so is everyone else.

Does not matter if you are done or not, it is considered very rude and disrespectful to eat after the Queen has finished dining.

Maybe it is because you are still eating in front the Queen and that is too offensive for her to see if she is not eating at the same time. This seem's like one of the older and more antiquated rules. Of course, this rule does not only apply to royal family members but anyone that is having a formal dinner with the Queen of England.

14 The Queen Has To Approve All Proposals And Marriages

This rule is the rumored to be the reason as to why Charles and Diana got married when they were not really in love. Everyone knows by now that Prince Charles was in love with Camilla Parker before Diana, but the Queen did not approve of that union and instead found Diana to be a much more fitting partner for the Prince, and more importantly a better fit for the family and their public image. Well, it turns out, that two people who don't love each other and get married tend to have a very unhappy marriage which is exactly what happened with Diana and Charles, and it played out publicly with both having affairs. We all know that Charles is married to Camilla finally, so it seems love prevailed and the Queen finally let her son marry the one he loves.

13 Before 2011, No Royal Family Member Was Allowed To Marry A Roman Catholic

If you are not familiar with the history of the Catholic church and the British royal family let us break it down for you. King Henry who had 8 wives is the reason that a schism happened and the family and the majority of England broke off from Catholicism. He wanted to divorce his wife which is not allowed if you are a good Catholic, so what did he do? He started his own church, the church of England and made himself the head of it. Since then, every living monarch is the head of the Church of England. So you can see where there was some bad blood between the British royals and Catholicism. Surprising that it took until 2011 for that ban to be removed though!

12 No Political Views Or Stances Made In Public, Ever!

Duchess Cate made headlines recently when she went to the BAFTA Awards wearing a green dress. Currently, women in Hollywood are rallying together to speak out against abuses in the industry and in life that women have had to endure. A symbol of this has been them wearing black to all the recent award shows. Well, Duchess Cate wore green when everyone was wearing black to support the movement. This does not mean that the Duchess does not support the cause, she's just literally not allowed to make such a public political statement. It would have been too much of a political move for her to do it. The royal family must appear neutral in public on controversial and political issues. You will never hear one endorse a political party that is for sure!

11 The Queen Must Have A Bright Wardrobe For A Very Specific Reason

If you are someone that follows the going on' of the British royal family, you probably have noticed that the Queen of England has a penchant for very bright colored outfits. One could call it Easter colors, but it is clear that the Queen prefers to have a very brightly colored outfit for her public engagements.

The reason for this is simple, she is supposed to stand out from the crowd and wearing these colors helps her achieve this goal.

No would notice her in a sea of people if she was wearing muted colors. The bright colors and outrageous hats are to separate her from the crowd and make it clear who is the focal point. The Queen of course! Interestingly enough, she will not wear bright nail polish only nude colors. The clothes are enough.

10 There Are Strict Rules About What Boardgames They Can Play, No Monopoly Allowed

You were not expecting to see this one were you! And you may be wondering how old of a rule it is since monopoly certainly has not been around for as long as the British royal family has. Well, the board game is banned from the royal family for the same reason that is probably banned in other families and households. Everyone takes it too seriously and things get too vicious! This revelation came out when Prince Andrew was at a public event, and someone gifted the prince the popular board game. He admitted that they are not allowed to play the game in the family anymore because it just get's too intense. Something that anyone who has played monopoly before can relate too. Royals, they're just like us!

9 There Is Strict Protocol At Dinner Parties About Whom The Queen Talks To And When

You have probably realized by this point in the article that the royal family has to follow very strict rules even about the smallest details. Everything is intricately planned and must follow the set schedule. For formal dinner events, there is a specific way things are set up. During a formal dinner, the Queen's honored guest is seated to her right.

While everyone is enjoying the first course of the dinner, the Queen first speaks to the person on her right. When the second course comes along she will speak to the person to her left.

Lewis Hamilton the formula 1 driver got in trouble for not following this rule! He was invited to dine with the Queen and was seated to her left. He began to speak to her and she basically said no, first I speak to the person on my right and I will come back to you! Imagine being scolded by the Queen of England!

8 No Autographs Or Selfies Allowed With Fans

Autographs and selfies are basically a second job for celebrities. They are hounded for them all the time, and for a fan getting one or the other is just life making. And while the Royals are celebrities for all intent and purposes and have just as many fans as the next celebrity, they are not allowed to do the same things. They are held to a very different standard than a celebrity who is famous for being a pop singer or reality show star, obviously. Much like long trousers on a young toddler are seen as too low class for the royal family, we assume that giving out their autograph and taking a selfie is too much of a commoner thing to do for a royal family member. They need to make that distinction between themselves and everyone else after all! Even other famous people.

7 The Royal Family Is Never Allowed To Eat Shellfish

Another antiquated rule, and a sad one too. Lobster and shrimp are delicious! In fact, most shellfish is! Well if you were a member of the royal family you would not be able eating these delicious sea-dwelling creatures.

This is because shellfish have such a high risk of being contaminated or spoiled, much more so than other animal proteins.

So in the interest of making sure that the royal family is as protected as possible from anything detrimental, in this case, food poisoning, they are never allowed to have shellfish. You would think they would have access to the best and freshest, especially these days. We hope for their own sake they rethink this rule!

6 Royal Women Must Wear Hats To All Formal Events

You have probably noticed at any publicized event that member of the royal family attends, the women always have these very intricate and decorative hats on. Hats that for the most part none of us would ever be caught in. This is a strict rule for royal women, they must wear hats to formal events.

This began years ago when it was seen as improper for a woman to show her hair off in public.

While this rule has obviously changed, because we see royal women without hats in public all the time, they still wear these fancy big hats for any formal events. At this point, this rule seems to be more of a tradition than anything. And it is always interesting for the public to see what kind of hats these ladies will end up wearing. They sure are unique.

5 Even Royal Toddlers Need To Have Decorum In Public, They Are Taught To Wave And Speak Gracefully Very Young

The training for a royal family member begins when they are very, very young. You will not see pictures of Prince George or Princess Charlotte throwing a fit in public. The same decorum that is expected from the adult royals is also expected from the little ones, even if they are too little to even understand what is going on. They are taught to do the royal had a wave, a fundamental aspect of being part of the royal family. They have to be well spoken, so you know this means that there is no baby talk happening in the palace when it comes to the kids. They will be living with immense pressure from the public and their family their whole lives, might as well get them started when they're young.

4 The Queen's Corgis Are Never To Be Scolded And They Only Eat Gourmet Prepared Meals

The Queen has been fond of dogs, especially corgi's since she was a very young child thanks to her parents. Corgis have been in the palace long before she became Queen, during the reign of her Mother and Father. But under the current Queen Elizabeth, they have become synonymous with her throne. She has had as many as 14 dogs at one time! And the Queen's dogs live just as much of a royal life as you would expect. They eat chef prepared gourmet meals that have been planned and approved of by a vet. And like all dogs, they get into trouble but these ones are not allowed to be scolded ever. The Queen prefers to let them do as they like when they like.

3 You May Never Turn Your Back On The Queen

You really should not be turning your back to anyone in certain situations because it is impolite, but this pretty common courtesy is held to a different standard when it comes to the Queen. Basically, the conversation is never over until the Queen says it is over. Or you know, she moves her purse from her left arm to her right so that her aides can whisk her away.

There is no situation where turning your back on the Queen while in public is considered acceptable.

We're sure the consequences for turning your back on royalty were probably a lot harsher back in the day, but it is still severely frowned upon currently. But as we mentioned, you should not be turning your back on anyone unless you have too anyways.

2 There Are Strict Instructions For How Royal Women Must Sit In Public

Don't worry, they have more than one option they can choose from. It is very clear by now that there is a specific protocol for every small and big situation that the Royals will encounter throughout their tenure of being a royal. All of this serves to give them a very refined and regal public image, after all, they are royalty and they must present themselves as such.

Royal women are never allowed to cross their legs at the knee in public. Considering they rarely wear pants, it is easy to see why this is necessary.

Their knees and legs must be closed together, and their ankles may be crossed if they wish. The way that Duchess Catherine sits has even been dubbed the Duchess Slant by publications. She slants her legs and crosses them at the ankle, a very modest and regal position to take.

1 Even The Way They Hold Their Tea Cups Is Controlled And Dictated

Tea and England are pretty much synonymous with the other. After all, a lot of their colonizing was done in the pursuit of tea. In history, tea was a very geopolitical issue. And who can forget when American's rebelled against England's taxes when they poured all their tea into the Boston harbor. They wanted to hit them where it hurts, their tea. We digress though, tea is still a big part of English culture and of course, there is a protocol for how the Royals should drink their tea. The women have to drink from the same spot on the cup so that their lipstick does not leave marks all around the rim. Everyone must hold the teacup handle with their thumb and index finger while their middle finger supports the bottom. After reading all these rules, does being a royal appeal to you?