The Weird Secret Rules The Royal Family Has To Follow

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When you were young you may have dreamed of being royal--having servants to cater to your every whim while you kicked back on a golden throne or maybe wearing a ball gown and tiara and dancing the night away at a fancy ball. Well, being royal is not all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re part of the British royal family. Aside from some official laws governing royal behavior, there’s a lot of strict etiquette involved. If the Queen commands...well, you obey. Here are some of the weirdest quirks, traditions and secret rules of the British royal family. We begin with a legend regarding the British monarchy that’s been honored for over 400 years. Since the era of Charles II in the 1600s, the Tower of London has always been home to at least six raven guardians. Apparently the royal astronomer complained to King Charles that the Tower of London’s avian visitors were pests. The King ordered that the birds be killed, only to be told by a superstitious courtier that if the ravens left the Tower, the British monarchy would fall. The king was worried enough to stay the execution and issue a royal decree which is still honored today. A beefeater is thus to this day employed as a Ravenmaster to care for the birds. Her majesty Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s longest ruling monarch with 76 years, having ascended to the throne in 1953 at the age of 25. As such, there is a planned protocol for her death. There will be 12 official days of mourning and then Queen will lie in state with the public being allowed to pay respects before she is buried. However, there’s an interesting rule the Queen has for her inevitable demise…she wants the public mood somber, going so far as to ban laughter to make that happen. She has strictly forbidden humorous shows being aired on public TV for the 12 official days between her death and her funeral. Instead the BBC and other public channels must show pre recorded documentaries about the Queen’s life which she has already picked out. Unlike us lame commoners, the Queen has two birthdays. Officially as the British head of State the Queen's birthday is generally celebrated on the second Saturday in June, though her actual birthday is on April 21. Over 250 years ago in 1748, King George II started the double birthday tradition. He was born in November, which tends to have nasty weather. King George wanted to have a big public celebration and military parade so he chose a summery June day as the official Monarch birthday. The Queen spends her actual birthday with family, although there are 3 special gun salutes at midday to mark the occasion. A 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park and a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London. For her 'official' birthday' in June, she continues the tradition of a big parade in London called Trooping the Colour. There are several rules Queen Elizabeth doesn’t have to follow. She doesn’t need a passport since all UK passports are issued in her name. She doesn’t have to have a driver’s license either for the same reason. But these perks are reserved solely for her majesty, the rest of the Royal Family has to get passports if they wish to travel and driver’s licenses to drive. Aside from crown jewels and several palaces, Queen Elizabeth owns a bunch of sea creatures. A still valid statute from the reign of King Edward II in 1324, states that the crown has the right to claim ownership of dolphins, whales and sturgeon when they wash ashore or are captured within 3 miles (5 km) of U.K. shores. These sea creatures are recognized as ‘fishes royal’. Sturgeons are protected and quite rare. The last time a fisherman caught one in 2004, they faxed Buckingham palace for permission. It was granted, but the fish was later confiscated because they tried to sell it for a profit instead of keeping it for themselves. Speaking of seafood, the Royal Family has many rules surrounding food and the etiquette of dining. They don’t eat shellfish, as it’s a food group that tends to have a higher risk of food poisoning and allergic reactions. When you’re frequently in the public eye, being struck with food poisoning or gastronomic distress could lead to embarrassing moments. For similar reasons the Royal Family also avoids rare meat, tap water in foreign countries, heavily spiced foods or anything they think may sit badly with them. Personally the Queen dislikes garlic, and thus it’s not used in meals she hosts. When invited to stay with a foreign leader, Buckingham Palace sends send the host’s staff a list of the royal likes and dislikes. In 2000 when Queen Elizabeth stayed with the Italian president, his staff received a 6 page document. The list included no garlic of course, but also nixed long pastas and "messy" tomato sauces. To us, this negates the fun of visiting Italy, but what do we know?. Also on the banned list were Carnations, other flowers of the color mauve and having a duvet on the bed the Queen would sleep in. Aside from all of the usual polite social dining manners you should display while eating at a royal banquet, there’s one really important rule. The moment the Queen stops eating, you should stop eating too. Apparently, this rule goes back to the reign of Queen Victoria, who was notorious for quickly chowing down. She allegedly could go through a seven course meal in half an hour. While Queen Elizabeth is a much more measured eater, footmen have removed plates out from under the nose of guests because her majesty had finished and the meal was moving on to the next course. The queen is known for her fondness for her corgis. While unfortunately the royal corgi line died out in 2018, the Queen still keeps a few other dogs. Apparently a rule is that the dogs cannot be scolded or disciplined by palace staff. They are allowed to roam freely throughout the palace as they please. Also her majesty’s dogs probably eat better than you. They are prepared individually designed gourmet meals. The palace kitchen receives a royal dog menu each month, created by the dog’s caretaker, listing out the daily meals for each dog. These meals are often include chicken, lamb or rabbit. The royal chefs carefully dice the meat into small chunks and make sure there’s no bone. You wouldn’t want to be the careless chef who causes one of her majesty’s pets to choke! The pampered pooches are served in order of seniority on silver platters by footmen. The Queen generally dresses monochromatic, but insists on wearing bright colors such as fuschia--that way she’s easier to see, even from within a crowd. A member of staff gently wears the Queen’s new shoes around the palace, so that they are broken in for her. Of course, members of the royal family must dress appropriately and modestly for every occasion. The public seems to be invested in royal protocol for clothing as much as the queen is. During her first post-honeymoon appearance at Trooping the Color in 2018, Duchess Meghan wore a dress which heaven forbid! displayed her shoulders, it made some Twitter users very angry. The Queen also requires the wearing of pantyhose and hates wedge shoes. She dislikes any vibrant fingernail polish, considering it ’vulgar’. Queen Elizabeth has been wearing the same inexpensive nail polish for 30 years since 1989. A diaphanous light pink polish called ‘Ballet Slippers’, by the brand Essie. Kate and Meghan occasionally rebel and wear bright polish and sometimes even wedges, but only to events the Queen is not attending. The Queen requires royal ladies to wear a head covering. Kate and Meghan sometimes skip this rule for less formal, daytime events. For head coverings, hats or scarves are suitable until 6 pm, after that, for evening events tiaras are worn by married women. Unmarried young royal ladies do not wear anything on their heads for nighttime events as an indication that they are single and ready to mingle. The Queen always carries a purse which she uses to secretly gesture her indications to her staff. If she shifts her purse from her left arm to her right, it means she's ready to wrap up the conversation and would like a staff member to whisk her away. Also Queen Elizabeth carries a hook attached to a suction cup in her purse, so she can hang her bag on the underside of dining tables. During a dinner, if the queen places her handbag on the table, she is telling staff that she wants to leave in five minutes. When she places her purse on the floor, she’s communicating that she’s having a boring conversation and would like to be rescued by a lady-in-waiting. Duchess Kate tends to carry clutches and also uses them to subtly signal her intentions. If she does not want to shake hands while on a visit, she will hold her bag at the waist with both hands. Since the public is not allowed to touch a royal family member unless they make the first move, she’s politely occupied. On a side note, the queen is also skilled in the art of throwing shade using broaches. During President Trump’s July 2018 visit with the Queen she wore brooches signifying her ties to the Obamas and Canada. The Queen has instituted a rule that all members of the Royal Family must pack a black outfit whenever they travel, in case there is a sudden death while they're away. Upon returning to England they’ll be photographed disembarking from the plane and must be dressed in the appropriate mourning clothes. For the males in the Royal Family, an interesting custom prevails. The royal great grandsons Prince George and Prince Louis only wear shorts. Dating back to the 16th century, from toddler age until age 8 boys in the royal and aristocracy classes have traditionally worn shorts. Trousers are for older boys and men; a pair of trousers on a young boy is considered ‘middle class’. The only time where Prince George has publically worn trousers was when he participated in Harry’s and Megan’s 2018 wedding. It probably goes without saying, but of course wedding dresses require the Queen’s approval. While royal brides have some freedom in style and shape, the Queen reportedly has final say on the gown's design and aesthetic. Forget about the traditional custom of a young man asking a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Those in the Royal Family Marriage must ask the Queen for permission to propose. This was actually law--According to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, royal descendants had to seek the monarch's consent before proposing. The Queen has approved all the unions of her children and her grandchildren-–from Prince Andrew and Fergie to Harry and Meghan. More recently the Royal Marriage Acts was repealed and under the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, only the first six people in line for the throne must ask the monarch’s permission. For royals, historically marriage has been strategic, about joining wealth and power rather than true love. Basically the Royal Marriages Act gave the sovereign the right to veto formalizing a relationship that could erode the status of the royal house. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 also gave the right to a royal to marry a Roman Catholic. Since the English Reformation the Anglican and Catholic churches have been at odds. Per the 1701 Act of Settlement, royals were forbidden from marrying a Roman Catholic. Now royals may marry a partner of any faith, assuming they receive permission if needed. The Queen loves to play charades and fancies herself a great actress. She enjoys doing impressions of the celebrities and world leaders that she’s met. During her first Christmas with her inlaws in 2018, Prince Harry alleged warned Meghan not to upstage the Queen during charades. While charades is considered great family fun, peculiarly playing Monopoly is forbidden. Once, Prince Andrew was presented with the game of Monopoly at an event. He apparently said, "We're not allowed to play Monopoly at home. It gets too vicious." Which brings up a lot of questions--one we’re curious to know is how the Queen responds to Twister? If you were a monarch, what royal etiquette rule you would create? Tell us in the comments! And then watch “When Royal Inbreeding Went Horribly Wrong!” Thanks for watching, and please like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
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Channel: The Infographics Show
Views: 2,133,560
Rating: 4.8415937 out of 5
Keywords: royal family, the royal family, the Queen, Queen, queen elizabeth ii, prince william, prince harry, meghan markle, England, British, Royal Guard, The UK, united kingdom, infographics show, news, video, weird, rules, secret, secret rules, queen elizabeth, kate middleton, buckingham palace, british royal family, prince charles, the queen of england, her majesty, british, england, royal family 2019
Id: bASXpSCefWQ
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Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)
Published: Mon Dec 02 2019
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