No royal selfies? No Facebook? And just what board game has the royal family banned?
Life near the throne might be glamorous, but it isn't always easy.
Keep watching to find out what else Prince William isn't allowed to do.
Air travel helps keep businesses running and families connected,
but one downside is that aircrafts crash, however infrequently. And, because the
British royal family has had several tragic air travel-related incidents in its history,
the queen does not like for those in the royal order of succession — which includes
Prince William and his father, the heir apparent, Prince Charles — to travel in the same aircraft.
For example, the queen's late husband, Prince Philip, lost his sister,
Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, along with her children, her unborn child,
and several other people aboard a small plane that crashed in Belgium in 1937.
Another tragic plane crash took the life of Prince George, Duke of Kent, in 1942. Then, in 1972,
another of the queen's cousins, Prince William of Gloucester, died in a plane crash at age 30.
The royal family continues to travel by plane, but think of the last time
there was any news of William traveling with Charles. It may have been as far back as 1983,
when William was a baby. While permission has been granted for William and his children,
who are currently numbers three, four, and five in the royal order of succession,
it is possible that the queen may be growing more concerned. We wouldn't be surprised if
the queen denied William and his children permission to travel together one day.
"And, if you're not careful, duty can sort of weigh you down an awful lot."
Putting aside grief and sorrow, which are personal matters in the eyes of the queen,
the publicly observable act of mourning is a serious and highly formal business for the royal
family. When the royal family is in a period of mourning, they inform the public. Royal family
members are also expected to have immediate access to mourning-appropriate clothes. To that end,
Prince William is not allowed to travel without packing a mourning-appropriate suit.
In one famous instance that highlights the importance of this rule, the queen was
actually caught without her mourning clothes. The year was 1952, and as heir presumptive,
then-Princess Elizabeth went on a trip to Kenya with her husband,
Prince Philip. Her father, King George VI died while the couple was away, but Elizabeth had
not brought her mourning clothes. She was, therefore, unprepared to be seen in public,
at least until her plane landed in the U.K., and mourning clothes were delivered to the
plane for the new queen to change into before she stepped out onto the tarmac.
Although the queen has, at least once and seemingly inadvertently, photobombed a selfie,
you'll likely never see her "take" a selfie. That's because she isn't a fan of the selfie,
according to what a former U.S. ambassador to Britain, Matthew Barzun, told British magazine
Tatler when the two spoke at the Commonwealth Games. And, as it goes in the royal family,
when the queen does not like something, others tend to avoid doing that thing. Accordingly,
Prince William is not allowed to take selfies with fans.
Although some members of the royal family have posed for selfies taken by fans,
including William, it happens infrequently, in large part because,
at a typical meet-and-greet event involving the royal family, the queen will be present.
Turning to take a selfie with a fan might involve either their own or the fan's turning one's back
on the queen. That is considered impolite and, therefore, not allowed. Accordingly, fans who
attend such events may be told that they, too, are not allowed to take selfies with the royals.
"Hello!"
"Hello everyone!"
"That's my mom and my grandad."
While taking selfies with fans is strongly discouraged among the royals,
so is handing out autographs. There's virtually no time when it would ever be appropriate for
William to give someone his autograph. Pausing for autographs might put William in the position
of turning his back on the queen, for example. CNN royal commentator Victoria Arbiter noted,
"Royals would always rather have a personal interaction than have people clamoring."
Moreover, there is the fear among those who
make the rules that the clamoring can quickly become overwhelming.
There are also physical security concerns involved with autograph-giving,
not to mention concerns that signing autographs might result in someone trying to forge a royal
family member's signature, according to The Sun – especially when it comes to William,
who is second in line to the throne after his father — which could have disastrous consequences.
As for Charles, himself, his response to being asked for an autograph is typically,
"Sorry, they don't allow me to do that."
What William and other members of the royal family
are allowed to do is sign guest books and official documents.
Overnight guests of the queen should not send themselves off to bed before Her Majesty decides
that it's finally time for her to pack it in for the night, according to Zarife Hardy,
a coach from the Australian School of Etiquette. As author Sir William Heseltine explained in an
interview with Harper's Bazaar, doing so is considered bad form. This rule applies to
everyone, including members of the royal family. In other words, when visiting with the queen,
Prince William is not allowed to go to bed until Queen Elizabeth says it's time.
And this is despite the fact that the queen has a habit of retiring at midnight.
Some have found this bedtime rule challenging, and that includes William's mother, Princess Diana,
Sir William noted during the interview. He said,
"For Diana, the long royal evenings were agony.
Nobody felt it right to go to bed before the Queen did."
Since apples may not fall all too far from the tree, one may wonder if William is a night owl,
like his grandmother, or if he finds this rule as difficult to follow as Diana may have.
When dining with the queen, one would be wise to do as Her Majesty does. That means,
among other things, sitting down only after the queen has taken her seat and
picking up one's utensils to eat only when the queen is doing so. Of course,
what that means is that when the queen is done with her dinner, so are you, even if you happen
to have food left on your plate at the time — and even if it's food you had hoped to consume.
This particular rule is also consistent with the general proposition that you can't stray too far
off the path of acceptable royal behavior if you not only comport yourself in the manner of the
queen, but also always follow her lead. Hence, since the queen dislikes garlic, it would be
improper for you to ask for garlic on your pasta when dining with her. And since the queen shuns
shellfish, no one — and especially not William — would order shellfish while dining with the queen.
Politics are strictly
off limits for the royal family. As head of state, the queen is expected to remain neutral,
and so are the other royals. This fundamental rule has been widely
interpreted as applying also to all of those who stand in the royal order of succession.
"She's above politics. She's very much away from it all."
What this means is that William is not allowed to express his political views,
and it also goes without saying that he is not allowed to align himself with a political
cause. That's why British officials were alarmed when William appeared to get himself involved in
Middle Eastern politics by pursuing the role of peace envoy between Israel and the Palestinians,
according to Robert Jobson's 2018 book, Prince Charles at 70: Our Future King. Jobson wrote,
"British officials immediately stepped in and insisted that was not William's role."
If your memories of laughter with your family or friends during board game nights fills you with
all the nostalgic feels, then you're not alone. But you know who probably can't relate? If we
had to guess, we'd go with Prince William. That's because the royal family is no longer allowed to
play the Hasbro board game Monopoly, according to Express. We can only imagine what had to have gone
down during a friendly game of Monopoly among the British royal family to cause the queen to
flat-out ban the game among members of the family. However, we can tell you that this rule has been
in place since at least as far back as 2008. That was the year that the Leeds Building Society tried
to give Prince Andrew, Duke of York, a game of Monopoly as a gift, and Andrew declined, saying,
"We're not allowed to play Monopoly at home. It gets too vicious."
Ever watch The Crown on Netflix and wonder to yourself how the British royal family behaves
in those moments in which they think no one is looking? If so, join the club. However,
it would appear that there are only rare moments, if any, in which members of the
British royal family are not aware that they are being scrutinized by the public
in one way or another. But what we can tell you is that no matter who is expected for dinner,
members of the royal family dress formally — no matter what they were doing earlier that day.
Former royal chef Darren McGrady, who cooked for the royal family,
told Marie Claire that he would, at times, observe royal family members coming in for afternoon tea,
dressed casually in their outdoor clothes, but by the time dinner was served, they would have
changed into ball gowns and tuxedos to dine on fine china and be serenaded by live music.
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