Five royal rules Princess Kate must follow but Meghan Markle doesn't have to
It turns out there are five rules Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, has to follow - and the same rules don't apply to Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
Despite Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, stepping down from their roles as working royals in 2020, they are still part of the royal family.
Yet, Meghan is able to escape the rules - and it all comes down to Kate being a more senior member of the royal family.
As she is married to Prince William, the future King, it comes with a very strict set of rules that don't apply to her sister-in-law.
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Without further ado...
Christmas Day invitations
According to Business Insider, Princess Kate wasn't allowed to attend Christmas Day celebrations in Sandringham until she married William - but Meghan was.
It has been reported that 'the royal family's partners are usually not invited unless they're married'.
It added: "Kate joined for the first time in 2011 after marrying Prince William earlier that year. An exception was seemingly made for Meghan, as she was invited to join the church service after her engagement to Prince Harry in November 2017."
The couple eventually married in 2018.
Voting in elections
It is thought that members of the royal family are politically neutral as well as it being against protocol to publicly discuss politics.
It is possible that Kate voted in elections before her marriage to William, but that will have likely stopped since.
Prince Harry shared in a 2021 televised interview with TIME: "Many of you may not know that I haven't been able to vote in the UK my entire life," which illustrates the seriousness of the rule.
Meghan on the other hand has been incredibly vocal about voting, and voted in the 2020 US Election, going as far to share a photo of herself wearing an 'I Voted' sticker.
Royal babies
There are many traditions when it comes to royal babies.
New mothers that are part of the royal family are expected to take part in a number of rules, including posing for photos by the press on the hospital steps after giving birth, and having a royal christening.
Kate did the above after all three of her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, and they wore a special christening gown that had been worn by for generations of other royal babies.
While Meghan opted not to take part in the photo call, instead arranging her own photographer two days after giving birth to her son, Archie, in 2019.
Meghan and Harry welcomed a daughter, Lilibet, in 2021 but the birth was kept entirely private and no photo call or royal christening took place.
Royal style
Women royals are expected to follow certain rules when it comes to fashion, including wearing hats to formal daytime events and donning a tiara to formal evening events.
After leaving the UK, Meghan has been photographed looking very relaxed in her own clothing.
In her Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, the Duchess shared that she wore 'muted tones' as a working royal.
She said: "To my understanding, you can't ever wear the same colour as Her Majesty, if there's a group event. But then you also should never be wearing the same colour as one of the other more senior members of the family."
Meghan added: "It was also so I could just blend in. I'm not trying to stand out here. There's no version of me joining this family and trying to not do everything I could to fit in.
"I don't want to embarrass the family."
Taking selfies
In December 2017, Meghan was reported to have told a fan: "We're not allowed to do selfies."
Since leaving royal duties behind, she and Harry have posed for many photographs with members of the public.
Kate has also broken this rule on a few occasions.
She posed for a selfie with a nervous fan in 2023, before telling him: "Please don't worry, it's OK. We all get nervous."
The footage went viral on social media, with one fan commenting: "Heart of gold."
Topics: Royal Family, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton
Kya Buller