10 Little-Known Things About the Royal Family That You Likely Never Knew Before

Members of the royal family have their own little secrets. Even their wedding shoes can hold meaningful surprises. Little details about royals are so interesting to us, and sometimes they’ll let us in on their secrets.

We at Bright Side dug up some uncharted facts about royals for you, and we’d like to share them.

1. Princess Diana was named after another Lady Diana Spencer from the eighteenth century.

There was one more Lady Di from the eighteenth century who had a similar destiny and was also supposed to marry the Prince of Wales. Instead, she was married off to Lord John Russell, who later became the fourth Duke of Bedford. This Lady Diana was “a mirror-image” of the life lived by the most recent holder of the title, and she died at the age of 25.

2. The Queen wears the same nail polish that costs just $11.

Queen Elizabeth has been wearing Essie nail polish since 1989. It costs just £7.99 ($11.00) and totally satisfies her taste because “classic pale pink polish is graced with a subtle, sheer finish.”

Kate Middleton also enjoys Essie products and shows that being stylish doesn’t mean having to buy expensive stuff all the time.

3. Prince Philip actually wasn’t British at all.

Although Prince Philip was a member of the royal family, he was born in Greece, into the Greek and Danish royal families, but when he was 18 months old, they were exiled from the country.

After the war, Philip got permission to marry Elizabeth and abandoned his Greek and Danish titles.

4. Meghan Markle had to make major changes in her lifestyle after her engagement.

If you marry a member of a royal family, you have to follow some formalities and unspoken rules. Meghan Markle had to delete all of her social media accounts after her engagement. Also, she can no longer take selfies with fans.

Her dress code has to be more strict as well. For example, she can’t wear ripped jeans or appear in public without pantyhose on if she chooses to wear a skirt. Additionally, she can’t return to her acting career.

5. The Queen’s corgis were known to be a bit troublesome.

The Queen is a lover of Pembroke Welsh corgis. She has supposedly owned over 30 dogs of that breed, and they haven’t always behaved like royals. Once, one of them bit the clock winder, Leonard Hubbard. 5 days later, the same dog attacked Alfred Edge, a Grenadier Guard and palace sentry.

Then the corgi spotted a policeman and “leapt up at his legs and tore his trousers.”

6. The daughter of Meghan and Harry was named Lilibet after Elizabeth II.

The nickname Lilibet once belonged to Queen Elizabeth when she was just a toddler and couldn’t pronounce her own name properly. But the name stuck and close relatives started to use it.

Harry and Meghan decided to give the name to their daughter in honor of their grandmother: “During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”

7. The alternative names for Prince William and Prince Harry were Arthur and Albert.

As many parents do, Diana and Charles had alternative names for their sons. Arthur and Albert were a couple of them, but Diana didn’t want to use them.

However, these options became middle names. Her older son’s full name is William Arthur Philip Louis, and Harry’s is Henry Charles Albert David.

8. Harry and Meghan met on a blind date.

The 2 were introduced to each other through a mutual friend who arranged a blind date for them: “I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. I was like, ’Okay, well, I’m really gonna have to up my game!’”

On the second date, Harry already knew that it was something special. And it turned out that his intuition was telling him the right things.

9. Meghan started wearing an “H” initial ring before she was engaged to Prince Harry.

Meghan Markle was wearing a Prince Harry ring months before the actual engagement. The ring had the letter “H” on it and was worn on her right hand.

10. Princess Diana had a secret message for Charles painted on the soles of her wedding shoes.

Diana’s wedding shoes were special in many ways. First, she was 5’10″, exactly the same height as Charles, so Diana decided to wear shoes with low heels as not to look taller than her future husband.

Second, the shoes had more than 500 sequins and 100 pearls on them. But they also hid some mystery. On the soles of the shoes, she had the letters C and D painted on them with a small heart that symbolized her love for Charles.

Which member of the royal family is your favorite? What do you think about being a royal? Do you think it’d be difficult?