Nothing human is alien, even to representatives of the royal families. And if, before the mass appearance of cameras, the ordinary life of monarchs was more of intricacies of myths, conjectures, and mysteries, then with the advent of photography, we got a previously absent chance to look behind the screen and find out how these same monarchs lived and how they behaved in ordinary life.

 

Photos where the Queen changes the wheel on the car and eats with his hands

 

One of the brightest representatives of this "life for the show" is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, better known as Elizabeth II. She was not embarrassed by the camera, so you can still find many photographs from infancy and old age on the Internet.

 

1. Princess Elizabeth II in a stroller at six months:

 

2. Walk with your nannies and stroller with your sister, Princess Margaret:

 

3. Standing in front of her "playhouse" given to her by the people of Wales:

 

4. Riding a tricycle:

 

5. Posing with his dogs in a house in Piccadilly, London:

 

Queen Elizabeth II was a respected public figure, welcoming foreign officials to state dinners, opening parliament sessions, and watching her subjects smile from their banknotes.

 

His face appeared on Andy Warhol's tape paintings, on towels or cups, was honored by poets such as Simon Armitage, or mocked by singers such as the punk band Sex Pistols. The Queen seemed to be above criticism and public figures such as the Pope or the Dalai Lama. Even the most vocal critics of the monarchy said, "the Queen has done a good job, though."

 

How did he achieve this feat in his public image? According to Politico, Elisabeta managed to use the virtue of silence. Refusing to express her own opinion, the queen remained silent and enigmatic. Showing the public only a neutral and vague facade, while no one in the general public had access to the honest Elizabeth, she became the most successful sovereign of recent times.

 

Behind the symbol was a person. Born by cesarean section on April 21, 1926, Elizabeth was the first daughter of a prince who, although second in line, did not look like he would become king. Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks was present at her birth, as custom dictates that such an official must ensure that the baby is not swapped, by a plot, for another.

 

Young Elizabeth grew up in the heart of London, in a 25-room palace with a ballroom and an enormous garden. Although in childhood photographs, she appears with her loving parents, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were raised by an army of servants and teachers and rarely saw their parents. Her first word was not her mother but "Bobo," one of the nannies who raised her.

 

6. And hugs one of them:

 

7. Pony ride at Windsor Great Park:

 

8. Stands in the ranks of the swimming team:

 

9. Next to your horse on your 13th birthday:

 

This was by his side all his life, and he never gave interviews. She was rewarded with a special status in Buckingham Palace for her fidelity. Other people who raised her were practically erased from the family's memory when they spoke to the media. The monarchy came first, before the person.

 

At 13, in 1939, the young Elisabeta met the man who would become her husband during a visit to Dartmouth Naval College. At 19, the Greek Philip was worldly, exotic, and raised in Paris in exile. He didn't get along with his family: three sisters were married to Nazis, the father threw the family's money into the casinos of Monte Carlo, and the mother had schizophrenia. The young princess fell in love with this rebel, who she said looked like a "Viking god."

 

We don't know much about their relationship. Elisabeta's mother was initially opposed to the relationship, but the two young people persevered and managed to get engaged in 1947. We can learn something about young Elisabeta's feelings in a rare letter to a friend. Page after page, she writes about how they went dancing together in nightclubs, how they were followed by a photographer - the words of a young woman whose heels were on.

 

Elizabeth's wedding to Philip in November 1947 was supposed to be a proper, austere party. Sugar in Britain was still rationed, and many British cities were littered with the rubble of houses destroyed in the bombings.

 

The country was still facing significant financial problems following the war. However, the wedding was an excuse for festivities that swept the country. Thousands of guests worldwide came to London to attend the wedding, including King Mihai.

 

Finally, a good party - an excuse for the people to forget, for a few moments, the torment of war and recession and put their hopes in a young and beautiful couple. Everything seemed to signal a new beginning, and the optimistic atmosphere grew in 1949 and 1951.

 

Then, at just 27, Elizabeth became queen after her father died. The years 1952-1953 seem to have brought, with these challenges, quite a lot of misunderstandings in the young couple's life. Philip felt useless and distanced himself from his wife as Elizabeth took control of the country.

 

Elisabeta became close to one of her childhood friends, Henry Herbert. The four children of the royal couple were raised by servants and sent to boarding schools. On a lucky day, they could see their parents for half an hour.

 

10. Visit the Girl Guide Camp at Frogmore, Windsor:

 

11. Changes the wheel of a car while serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service:

 

12. Dressed as Prince Salvador in the Christmas production of Sleeping Beauty at Windsor Castle:

 

13. On the deck of HMS Vanguard:

 

14. Dancing square dance with the Duke of Edinburgh at a cowboy party in Canada:

 

15. Filmed on a video camera aboard the ship "Gothic" during the coronation world tour:

 

16. On the way to a garden party in Sydney, Australia:

 

17. Chatting with actress Jayne Mansfield in line for an appointment at the Odeon Theater in London:

 

18. Playing with Prince Charles in a country house in Surrey:

 

19. Gets into the boat with Princess Anne:

 

20. Ride with Prince Charles and Princess Anne:

 

21. Elizabeth II eats with her hands during a meal with King Hassan during a visit to Morocco:

 

22. Touring Australia in 1970:

 

23. 50th birthday:

 

24. Posing with Prince Charles at Windsor Castle:

 

25. Cuts the cake with a sword:

 

26. Shaking hands with Victoria Beckham after the performance of the Spice Girls:

 

27. Plays with one of his dogs, Candy:

 

28. Admire the Lego replica of Buckingham Palace:

 

29. Chatting with Anna Wintour (Editor-in-Chief of the American edition of Vogue magazine) while watching the Richard Quinn show:

 

30. Participation in a video conference at Buckingham Palace:

 

31. And finally driving his Range Rover to the Windsor Horse Show last year:

 

After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there was a lot of speculation about how much money the British royal family actually has and what members will inherit after the death of the monarch.

And in connection with these arguments, we decided to see how much money is in the possession of the other remaining monarchs of the Earth. Are they as fabulously rich as they used to be, and who is the richest among them?

Spoiler: the richest is the king of Thailand

Of course, it is impossible to find exact data on the state of the royal families, but their approximate (estimated) assets in monetary terms are still circulating on the Internet. Let's look at them.

Here is the estimated net worth of royals around the world, from Denmark to Saudi Arabia:

1. King Felipe VI of Spain is reportedly worth $2.8 million

In April 2022, he decided to disclose his net worth in order to show transparency, after a law was passed requiring the royal family to share quarterly financial statements.

2. In 2013, King Philippe of Belgium claimed he was worth $14 million.

Since then, the monarchy has not published any updated financial statements.

3. The fortune of King Harald V, who ascended the throne in Norway in 1991, is estimated at $30 million.

Despite this, Harald and his family try to live a relatively ordinary life: his children go to public school and the family is often spotted on public transport.

4. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the fortune of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who after the death of Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning royal family in Europe, is estimated at $ 40 million.

The Danish Civil List gives her a monthly allowance of $705,000 which includes the cost of maintaining her property and paying staff salaries in addition to the Queen's personal expenses.

5. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is worth an estimated $70 million.

It also includes ownership of Solliden Palace, the family's summer home on the Baltic island of Öland.

6. King Willem-Alexander, the current monarch of the Netherlands, is worth an estimated $48 million.

Princess Beatrix, who served as head of the monarchy for over 30 years before abdicating the throne in 2013, is allegedly worth around $200 million.

7. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III of England inherited about $ 500 million, as a result of which his fortune grew and is estimated at $ 660 million.

Charles also controls his mother's $42 billion financial portfolio, although he does not own it.

8. King Abdullah II of Jordan is allegedly worth $750 million

Over $100 million of his net worth is tied to real estate he has acquired in the United States and the UK over the past decade.

9. Prince Albert of Monaco is allegedly worth $1 billion.

Albert owns about a quarter of the land in Monaco. In 2016, he bought his mother, actress Grace Kelly, a home in Philadelphia for $754,000.

10. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is worth $1.2 billion.

Most of it comes from the Qatar Investment Authority, which manages the country's oil and gas.

11. According to Insider, Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein is worth an estimated $3.5 billion.

Much of this wealth comes from the LGT Group, a private bank owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein. The Prince receives an annual spending allowance of $270,709, which is tax-free.

12. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg is reportedly worth $4 billion, making his family one of the wealthiest in Europe.

Although the Grand Duke's family does not receive a salary, they receive around $325,000 to cover some of their royal expenses.

13. King Mohammed VI of Morocco is said to be worth around $5.7 billion, according to Forbes.

After the death of his father, King Hassan, Mohammed inherited a 35% stake in Societe Nationale d'Investissement, a holding company that has stakes in some of Morocco's largest companies.

14. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia is worth $17 billion.

In 2018, the House of Saud was allegedly valued at $1.4 trillion, with this vast fortune divided among 15,000 family members, although CNBC reported that only 2,000 of them hold most of the wealth.

15. Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi and former President of the United Arab Emirates, is allegedly worth an estimated $18 billion

He was chairman of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which manages the UAE's oil reserves, which are valued at more than half a trillion dollars.

16. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the leader of Brunei, is worth an estimated $20 billion.

He lives in the largest palace in the world and allegedly owns over 600 Rolls-Royce cars. Most of Bolkiah's wealth comes from the country's oil and gas reserves.

17. And finally, King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand is said to be the richest monarch in the world, with an estimated net worth of $30 billion.

He owns the 545-carat Golden Jubilee Diamond, which is the largest diamond in the world.

On January 10, 2023, the book “Spare” was released: the memoirs of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, a member of the British royal family (it was published immediately in 16 languages, and the Spanish version appeared by mistake even earlier). Shortly before its release, the media began publishing excerpts from this edition, so the book was eagerly awaited: recent events, the change of the monarch, have increased the interest in the British crown that has not waned.

Details from the life of the royal family from Prince Harry: the whole world reads.

The world knowingly waited for revelations and shocking details. Indeed, less than a month had passed since the publication, and strong statements appeared in the press: mainly distrust was expressed in many of the facts outlined in Spare, and the author himself was already getting hit by opponents (according to the first survey, two-thirds condemn the author for too much frankness).

Today, Bemorepanda presents readers with 45 fragments of the sensational book: the prince's memoirs in Russian have yet to be available, so let's get acquainted with the text from excerpts from it.

1. Almost every member of the royal family has a nickname or nickname:

Prince William - "Willie" Katherine, Princess of Wales - "Kate" The king is "Pa." Princess Diana was "mother." The Queen and Prince Philip are "grandmother" and "grandfather." The Queen Mother was "Gan-Gan." Princess Margaret was "Aunt Margot." Princess Eugenie - "Yuge".

And Harry? He has a lot of nicknames. He is called "Harold" by his family (although his father also calls him "dear boy"). Palace staff calls him "Skinny." Megan calls him "Haz." His friends call him: "Spike," "Baz," and "Prince Shakaru" ("Spike" was also the codename used by Harry's bodyguards).

The King wanted to name Harry Albert. Diana convinced him, and this name became one of Harry's middle names.

Harry writes that his father was a fan of Queen Victoria's husband, Albert, and at one point wanted to name his second son after the famous Prince Consort. “Mom stopped him,” he writes. Harry was christened Henry Charles Albert David of Wales.

2. The king regularly takes care of himself:

The king does a daily headstand, which Harry says was prescribed by a physiotherapist and proved to be the only effective remedy for neck and back pain caused by old polo injuries. He also listens to audiobooks (which he calls "storybooks") on a portable CD player (wireless) while taking a bath.

3. Princess Diana loved mango sorbet and bread and butter pudding:

Harry reveals these two facts at various points related to desserts in his book Spare.

4. The king has an unusual favorite tea snack:

Harry writes that his father likes "crackers with some creamy spread [and] crushed basil."

5. Harry loves Opal Fruits and was offended when they changed their name to Starbursts.

He detailed the joy of the days at Eton when students were allowed to choose their sweets. He always chose Opal Fruits and "crumpled them into one huge lump and then put it in his mouth."

“I was very offended when Opal Fruits changed their name to Starburst,” he writes. - Pure heresy. As if Britain had changed its name."

6. The royal family hosted informal dinners at Balmoral, with Prince Philip grilling and the Queen making salad dressing.

. Harry describes one particular journey in the summer of 2001 in his book Spare.

Upon arrival, he writes, “grandfather, who had set off half an hour before us, was already fiddling with his grill at the back of the cabin.” Standing in a "thick cloud of smoke, tears streaming from his eyes," Prince Philip donned a flat hat that he also used as a towel to dry his face and a fly swatter.

"When the venison fillet sizzled, he turned it around with huge tongs and then skewered Cumberland sausages." The Queen's specialty was salad dressing, which she whipped up "heaps." The family (and sometimes the "famous or eminent person" who deserved the invitation) sat at a long table on "creaky straw chairs."

7. It is not customary in the royal family to show the physical side of affection.

“The older generation adhered to an almost complete ban on physical contact,” Harry writes about his family. No hugs, no kisses, no pats. Sometimes, there may be a light touch on the cheeks ... on special occasions. In the book Spare, Harry describes several moments when he wanted to hug his grandmother, the Queen, but in the end, refrained.

One of the rare instances in which members of the royal family backed away from this unofficial policy was when Harry returned home from his first overseas military campaign, he writes. “I think Willie hugged me. I think I kissed Pa on each cheek. Perhaps he also... squeezed my shoulder? To some, from a distance, it would have seemed like a normal family greeting and communication, but to us, it was a dramatic, unprecedented display of physical affection."

8. The Royal Family Unwraps Their Christmas Gifts on Christmas Eve.

Harry describes earlier the moment of unwrapping gifts as "a German tradition that survived the anglicization of the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor." Since the family usually spends Christmas at Sandringham, a large room is set aside for the event, with a large table "covered with a white tablecloth and bearing white name cards."

“According to custom, by nightfall, each of us determines his place, and stands in front of his pile of gifts,” writes Harry. “Then everyone suddenly starts opening them at the same time. Complete freedom of action: dozens of family members speak at the same time, pull the bows and tear the wrapping paper.

9. The king takes a teddy bear with him wherever he goes:

Harry writes that a teddy bear (named Teddy) comforted the king when he was bullied as a child. “Teddy went everywhere with Pa. It was a sad thing, with broken legs, dangling threads, and holes patched here and there.

He looked like I thought Pa would look after the bullies had finished with him. Teddy eloquently expressed, better than Pa ever could, the feeling of loneliness in his childhood," writes Harry.

10. One Christmas, Harry's great-aunt, Princess Margaret, gave him a pen with a rubber fish attached to it:

Harry says it was the smallest gift of all that Christmas, though he does not specify the year, and describes it as "quite indifferent."

11. Harry Never Talked To The King About The (Incorrect) Rumors That James Hewitt Is His Real Father.

It has long been rumored that Harry is not the child of the King and Diana but of one of his mother's former lovers, Major James Hewitt (who, like Harry, has red hair). “Never mind that my mother did not meet Major Hewitt until after I was born, this story was too good to pass up,” he writes.

“To this day, almost every biography of mine, every long story in a newspaper or magazine, mentions Major Hewitt, seriously considers the possibility of his paternity, including a description of the moment when Pa finally sat me down at the table for a heart-to-heart talk, reassuring me that Major Hewitt was not my real father. A vivid scene, poignant, touching, and completely fictional. Harry writes that if the king had any thoughts about the rumors and Major Hewitt, "he kept them to himself."

12. Harry's hair has never been the same after friends at Eton shaved him bald:

In his "foolish" decision, Harry allowed his friends to shave his head while he was at Eton. “My hair never fully recovered,” he writes. “Some strands rose like summer grass; some lay flat like varnished hay.” His resemblance to the echidna gave rise to the nickname "Spike."

13. Harry doesn't like beer.

Although Harry writes about drinking a lot of beer as a teenager, in the middle part of the book, which describes his military service, he says that he is not a big fan of this drink. “Everyone was given exactly two cans. No more,” he writes about the peacekeeping mission in the army after serving in Afghanistan. “I didn't like beer, so I gave my can to a soldier who looked like he needed it more than me. He reacted as if I had given him a Rolex.”

14. Harry never dated Cameron Diaz.

In Spare, Harry complains about the sheer amount of fiction being published about him in exclusive stories and unauthorized biographies. “Books about me describe my love life, savoring every romantic failure or slip. I think I remember one that detailed my flirtation with Cameron Diaz."

In that book, he said, the author wrote that the prince could not imagine being paired with an actress. “I couldn’t, because we never met. I have never been closer than fifty meters from Miss Diaz, which proves once again that if you like to read complete nonsense, then royal biographies are what you need.

15. The queen's corgis lived in clover - and often "mortgaged" the king and Harry.

“My mom used to say that being around grandma and corgis was like trying to stand on a moving carpet, and I knew most of them, dead and alive, like my cousins,” writes Harry. At Balmoral, the Queen and the Corgis often took the elevator to her second-floor bedroom, which Harry said the Corgis liked better.

Harry writes that he and his father are both sensitive to heat, and they suffered particularly when the royal family dined in Sandringham's "sub-tropical" formal dining room.

According to him, he and his father waited for the queen to turn away, and “then one of us jumped up, ran to the window, and pushed its shutters an inch. Ah, the blessedly cool air." But corgis have always betrayed us. The cool air made them whine, and Grandmother would say, "Is there a draft?" And then the footman quickly closed the window.

16. The widely reported story that William received Princess Diana's engagement ring from Harry to propose to Kate is not valid.

“There were florid stories in the newspapers about how I realized that Willie and Kate were a good match for each other, how I appreciated the depth of their love and therefore decided to give Willie a ring that I inherited from my mother, the legendary sapphire: such a touching moment of the relationship between brothers and mom that unites the three of us, and absolute nonsense: none of this has ever happened, ”writes Harry.

According to him, William already had the ring. "He asked for it after my mom died, and I was thrilled to give it away."

17. Harry thought he would get married and have children before William.

“I always assumed that I would be the first of us to get married because I wanted it so badly,” he writes in his memoir about the preparations for the wedding of William and Kate. The King was 35 years old when Harry was born, and Harry wanted to be a younger and more active father.

18. Harry and William weren't each other's best men at their weddings.

Harry writes that this "blatant lie" was invented by the Palace and released to the press because "the public expected [it]." In addition, Harry notes, “In truth, Willie didn't want me to give the best man's speech. He did not consider it safe to hand me a microphone and create a situation where I could deviate from the script. I could say something wildly inappropriate. He wasn't wrong."

William's friends, James and Thomas, were his best men. Harry's absolute best man was his "old pal Charlie."

19. The King and Queen Consort wanted Kate to change the spelling of her name.

Harry said that when his brother's wife entered the family, and joined Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; they decided that "there are already two royal monograms with the letter "C" and a crown above it" and "it would be too difficult to get another. " They suggested that Kate (née Katherine Elizabeth Middleton) change her name to Katherine with a "K."

20. The Queen was a big fan of Kate's hairstyle.

Harry writes that both the current king and the former queen preferred women to wear their hair loose. "[Grandma] often commented on Kate's 'beautiful mane,'" writes Harry.

21. Meghan Didn't know Google Harry And The Royal Family While They Were Dating.

The Duchess of Sussex made this (seemingly unrealistic, to tell the truth) statement in an interview with Oprah and the Netflix movie Harry & Meghan, and the Duke of Sussex confirms in his memoir that it's true.

“I was pretty sure she wasn’t looking online because she kept asking questions,” writes Harry. “She seemed to know next to nothing—it’s so inspiring.” When Meghan first met the Queen, she didn't recognize Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and thought he was the Queen's aide because he carried his mother's purse to the car. "She didn't google us," Harry concludes.

22. Harry regretted that he googled Meghan's erotic scenes from Suits.

“I made the mistake of googling and looking up some of her love scenes online,” Harry admits in the book Spare. “I witnessed how she and her teammate beat each other in some office or conference room ... It would take electroshock therapy to get these images out of my head.”

23. William and Kate were Suits fans and couldn't believe Harry was dating an actress from the show.

Harry writes that . “Their mouths were open. They turned to each other.

Then Willie turned to me and said: Hey, fuck off! Harry writes that he was "bewildered" until "Willie and Kate explained that they were regular - one might say fanatical - viewers of the series." Harry jokes that at first, he was afraid that the Cambridges would not accept Meghan in the family, but now he is worried "that they will beg for an autograph."

24. Harry borrowed a Mad Max costume from his friend Tom Hardy for a Halloween party he attended with Meghan.

During one of Harry's visits to Toronto to Meghan in October 2016, they planned to attend a Halloween party with his cousin Eugenia, her then-boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, and Meghan's friend Marcus. In the book Spare, Harry hints that this was the first "masquerade party" he attended after the infamous Nazi uniform incident.

“I turned to a friend, actor Tom Hardy, for help choosing a costume before I even left home,” says Harry. “I called him and asked if I could borrow his Mad Max costume. Whole? Yes, please buddy! The whole set. He gave it all to me before I left Britain." Harry writes that Meghan was "sobbing with laughter" when he first showed her the costume.

25. Meghan left her rescue dog, Bogart, in Canada when she moved to London because he became overprotective of her.

After it became known that Meghan and Harry were dating, the press attacked her home in Toronto, trying to enter, constantly knocking on the door and ringing, writes Harry. This turmoil took a toll on one of Meghan's dogs, Bogart, and she had to leave him in Canada when she moved to the UK.

“He was so traumatized by the siege of her house, the constant ringing at the door, that his behavior changed when Meg was around. He became an aggressive guard dog. Meg's neighbors kindly agreed to adopt him."

26. Harry dreamed of a dog for most of his adult life until meeting Meghan.

“I wanted to get a dog for so long, but I never got the chance because I was such a nomad,” writes Harry. He became especially attached to Megan's rescued beagle Guy, and in early 2018 they brought home a black Labrador puppy named Pula, which means "rain" and "luck" in the Setswana language. (In August 2022, Harry and Meghan adopted a third dog into their family, a beagle named Mamma Mia, who was rescued from a medical testing facility.)

27. Camilla Turned Harry's Bedroom Into A Dressing Room When He Left Clarence House.

Harry reveals this juicy information by describing Meghan's first meeting with his father, the king. He told his then-girlfriend that he lived at Clarence House from 19 to 28. “After I moved out, Camille turned my bedroom into her dressing room,” he said. I tried not to pay attention. But when I saw it for the first time, it became… I don’t care.”

28. William has repeatedly warned Harry about his relationship with Meghan - in strong terms

“He was always depressed that I was dating Meg at all,” writes Harry in Spare. One day, sitting with me in his garden, he predicted the many difficulties that might await me if I got along with "American actress" - a phrase that he always managed to translate as "convicted criminal."

When the brothers visited their mother's grave in 2017, on the 20th anniversary of her death, William disputed Harry's claim that Diana helped him find Meghan: "Well, now Harold, I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't say that."

Moreover, when Harry told William that he planned to propose, his brother warned against it, saying that Harry was acting "too fast." However, he didn't mind when Harry took the diamonds from one of their mother's bracelets to make Meghan's engagement ring, noting that William "seemed to like Meg despite his misgivings."

29. When Harry asks the Queen for permission to marry Meghan, she replies: “I guess I should say yes.”

Under the terms of the 2013 Succession to the Throne Act, Harry, as one of the first six people in line to the throne, had to obtain the Queen's permission before marrying Meghan. Harry writes that he was incredibly nervous before asking the question and waited until the family trip to the Sandringham shoot, as "shooting always puts Grandma in a good mood."

He managed to be alone with the Queen after a day of filming and nervously asked her permission to propose, mentioning in his request that he and the Queen's staff had warned him that the monarch's permission was required.

“I stared at her face, but it was impenetrable,” he writes. Finally, she said, “Well then, I guess I should say yes.” Harry said he "didn't understand" why the queen said that. Was she being sarcastic? Ironic? Intentionally cryptic? Or was it a play on words? In the end, he decided it didn't matter because she said yes, and although he wanted to hug her, he refrained.

30. The King helped Harry and Meghan choose the music for their wedding.

Harry dedicates an entire chapter of the book to the evening he and Meghan spent at Clarence House with the King while planning their wedding. "He fully supported our desire to invite an orchestra rather than an organist and played several works for us with different performers to cheer us up."

. “When one piece ended, he quickly reset his player, and began to hum or tap his foot in time with the next.

He was light, witty, charming, and I kept shaking my head in surprise.” Harry writes that he knew his father liked music, but before

He was light, witty, charming, and I kept shaking my head in surprise.” Harry writes that he knew his father loved music, but he didn't know until that point that "he loves it that much." Harry credited Meghan for this.

“She awakened so many qualities in him that I rarely saw. Pa became a boy in her presence. I saw it, I saw the connection between them growing stronger, and I felt my connection with him growing stronger.”

31. The Queen allowed Harry to keep his beard at the wedding (to the annoyance of William, who threatened to grab Harry and shave him if he got too drunk at the bachelor party)

“After I asked my grandmother for permission to marry Meg, I thought I would never have the courage to ask her for anything else,” writes Harry in Spare. - And yet I dared to ask her one more request: "Grandma, please, can I leave a beard for the wedding?"

And this is not a small request. Some felt that the beard was a clear violation of protocol and long tradition, especially since I got married in an army uniform.” Harry said that Meghan has never seen him without a beard and having a beard helps him deal with the excitement. When he explained this to the Queen, she said she understood him, adding that "her husband liked to play pranks sometimes."

Harry said it upset his brother, who was rumored to have been told to shave off his beard when he grew it out while in the Special Forces. William was angered that Harry had asked the Queen for permission, and, as Harry writes, "at one point [William] ordered me, as the Heir to the Throne, ordering the lowest in rank, to shave." (Harry writes that part of the dissatisfaction with the beard was because he was allowed to wear a military uniform, which William would like to wear when he married Kate).

According to Harry, at the bachelor party, he was afraid that if he "got too drunk and passed out, Willie and his buddies would twist me and shave me." As it turned out, it was a well-founded fear. "Willie told me straight out, in all seriousness, that this was his plan."

32. At first, Meghan was going to wear the Spencer tiara (which Princess Diana famously wore) to the wedding, but then the Queen offered to lend her one from the royal collection.

Harry's aunts (Diana's sisters) were first asked if Meghan wanted to wear the Spencer tiara that Diana wore on her wedding day. “We were both touched,” writes Harry. “Then Meg spent many hours with the designer, matching the veil to match the tiara and with a similar wavy edge.”

However, shortly before the wedding, "Grandma got in touch" to suggest Harry and Meghan "take a look at her tiara collection." She invited them to Buckingham Palace to try on several options, and Harry described it as "an extraordinary morning."

“We entered my grandmother’s private dressing room, Harry. “Along with my grandmother was a jewelry expert, an eminent historian who knew the pedigree of every stone in the royal collection.”

Angela Kelly, "cloakroom attendant and confidant of the Queen," was also there. The Queen chose five tiaras as options: “One was all emeralds. One was aquamarine. Each one was more dazzling and stunning than the previous one."

Meghan and the Queen had a special moment, writes Harry. “Grandma said to Meg very gently: “tiaras suit you.” - Meg melted: "Thank you, ma'am." In the end, one of the five (Queen Mary's tiara) fit best, "seemed to be made for Meg," says Harry. They left the palace with a feeling of "admiration, love, and gratitude."

33. There was a problem getting a tiara from the Queen's cloakroom attendant Angela Kelly so Meghan could practice styling her hair with her hairdresser.

The saga of Harry, Meghan, and the bridal tiara has become such tabloid material that royal correspondents have dubbed it Tiaragate.

Reports claimed that Meghan was denied a first tiara choice and that she and Harry threw a tantrum when the chosen tiara was not provided on demand so Meghan could rehearse the hairstyle. In the book, Harry paints Kelly as an "unintelligent gatekeeper," ignoring requests and unnecessarily denying the couple access to the tiara out of spite, and implies that she was the source of the negative (and false, he says) stories in the media.

“Installing the tiara was a complex, elaborate process,” writes Harry. “First, it had to be sewn to the veil, then Meg's hairdresser had to fasten it to a little pigtail in her hair. Difficult, long – we would need at least one dress rehearsal.”

Kelly, he said, "obstacles" and when she finally handed over the tiara, "her eyes burned with fire. ... She stared at me with a look that made me tremble. I could read a clear warning on her face: this is not the end."

34. Harry and Meghan did have a private, informal wedding "ceremony" in their garden a few days before the big royal wedding.

Meghan revealed this to Oprah Winfrey in an interview in March 2021, and the British press quickly verified the claim, and said it was legally impossible (A quick Google search will reveal that this was information that was widely reported in the media after the interview).

But Harry writes in Spare that a few days before the royal wedding, their confessor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, held a "little ceremony" in Harry and Meghan's garden, "only the two of us, [dogs] Guy and Poole, are the only witnesses." He describes the ceremony as "informal, non-committal, just for fun."

"We were grateful to every person in and around St. George's and the TV viewers, but our love started in private, and publicity was mostly a torment, so we wanted the first consecration of our love, the first vows to be private as well."

35. Meghan's engagement ring used the last piece of fine Welsh gold that has gone on for generations of royal engagement rings.

For generations, members of the royal family have made their wedding rings from rare Welsh gold. The tradition began in 1923 when gold from the Clogau St. Davids mine was donated to Windsor House.

This gold was used to make an engagement ring for Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future wife of King George VI, and then a call for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. The Clogau website details all of the royal brides who wore Welsh gold wedding bands in later years (as well as instances where a lot of gold was given to the royal family).

In the book Spare, Harry claims that Meghan and Kate's rings were forged from the same ingot donated in 1923. Gold is first mentioned in his account of William and Kate's wedding, as he held the call until the groom put it on the bride's finger.

“A thin strip of Welsh gold taken from a bar donated to the royal family almost a century before. The same gold was used to make a ring for my grandmother when she got married and for Princess Margaret, but as I heard, it was almost finished. By the time I get married,”

Fortunately, there was enough gold to make Meghan's engagement ring. “Grandma told me it was almost the last [gold],” he writes. - The last gold. That's how I felt about Meg."

36. William and Kate didn't sit in their assigned seats at Harry and Meghan's wedding reception - though they claimed they didn't move the cards on the table

When the Cambridges and Sussexes held their first big, very tense meeting to 'clear things up,' this was one of the grievances Harry and Meghan wanted to discuss. (This was the much-publicized meeting: when Kate wanted Meghan to apologize for calling her brain "baby" after the birth of her third child, Prince Louis.)

“We weren't too happy when Willie and Kate switched cards and seats at our wedding. We followed the American tradition of seating couples next to each other, but Willie and Kate didn't like this tradition, so their table was the only one where the team sat separately. They insisted that it was not they who decided this, but someone else.

37. Meghan cracked a joke that sparked a tense moment during one of her first significant royal events.

Harry writes that shortly after he and Meghan returned from their honeymoon, it was time for the Queen's official birthday party, Trooping the Colour. At this event, they first appeared in public as newlyweds. “Everyone present was in high spirits,” he writes. “But then Kate asked Meg what she thought of her first Trooping the Color ceremony. And Meg joked: "Colorful ... I thought we would drown in the silence."

38. Meghan and Kate "got on the wrong foot" because of a misunderstanding about fashion preferences

At the same meeting "to defuse the situation," Meghan suggested that some of the "tension" between the Cambridges and the Sussexes may be related to a misunderstanding that arose when she first entered the royal family, and because of which the two royal wives "got up with that leg, maybe. Harry writes: “Kate thought Meg wanted her fashion contacts. But Meg had her acquaintances."

39. Harry and Meghan did tell the royal family they were pregnant at Princess Eugenie's wedding.

This revelation was one of the few times in the book that Harry confirmed a story previously reported in the British media. The Duke pays no attention. Harry told the King, William, and Kate about this at Windsor during a drink reception organized for Eugenie and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank.

40. Harry and Meghan offered to give up their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex in January 2020

Since Harry and Meghan announced their decision to retire from life as acting royalty, there have been public calls to strip them of their titles (the UK Parliament will have to get involved in some way).

However, in the book Spare, Harry reveals that he offered to drop them in the first letter he sent to the king about his and Meghan's plan to lead a less public life. “I kept saying we are willing to make any sacrifice to find peace and security, including relinquishing the Sussex titles,” he writes.

41. Tyler Perry said he helped Meghan and Harry when they needed housing and security because his mother loved Princess Diana

In the Netflix movie Harry & Meghan, the Sussexes detail how Perry flew the couple and their son from Canada to Los Angeles on his private jet and housed them (including security). At the same time, they got back on their feet, but in the book, Harry recounts why the actor, screenwriter, and director made such a decision regarding people he barely knew.

“I asked him why he did that. "My mother... loved your mother." I was surprised. He said, “. According to Maxine Perry, she was perfect and couldn't be wrong."

42. Harry - instead of a doctor or midwife - adopted his daughter Lilibet when she was born

The Duke made this decision when his wife was already in labor. “When the doctor said it was a matter of minutes, I told Meg that I wanted my face to be the first one our little girl sees,” he writes. The doctor put Harry in the right place and helped him when the baby was born. “I slipped my hands under the tiny back and neck. Gently but firmly, like in the movies, I pulled our precious daughter out of that world and into this one." Later, writes Harry, Meghan told him that she "had never been so in love with him as at that moment."

43. When the Queen met Harry's daughter Lilibet (and saw Archie again) in the summer of 2022, Harry decided she expected to see more "American" children.

44. Harry describes his family's last visit to the Queen's Grandmother at the end of the book, writing that he "couldn't stop imagining [his children] with their grandmother" when he returned to California after her funeral.

“Archie makes deep, chivalrous bows, his younger sister Lilibet hugging the monarch’s knees. Dearest children, Grandmother said in bewilderment. She expected them to be a little more... American, I guess? That is, in her opinion, more violent.

45. Harry says he learned of the Queen's death from BBC reports after his plane landed in Scotland.

In Spare, Harry writes that when he received word that the Queen's health was deteriorating, he contacted William to find out how his brother was getting to Scotland but never received a response (it turned out that William and other members royal family took off on a military flight, arriving a few hours before Harry).

After being told by his father that Meghan wasn't welcome here, Harry boarded a charter flight and, according to him, was in the air when his grandmother died. “When the plane started descending, my phone turned on. Message from Meg: "Call me as soon as you get it." I checked the BBC website. Grandma was gone. The pope became king."

Royal Sources disputed the Duke of Sussex's account, arguing that the King ensured that all royal family members knew about it before the announcement was made.

Many would like to be part of the British royal family. The attention of the whole world, many servants, jewelry, palaces and other joys of aristocrats - isn't it a fairy tale? However, everyone forgets that being in the public eye of millions of people and constantly maintaining a brand can be incredibly difficult. The life of royals is subject to regulations and is filled with sometimes really strange requirements that they must certainly fulfill.

The British royal family is called one of the main attractions of Great Britain. The British are proud of their monarchy. They celebrate the Queen's Birthday along with other holidays. They follow with interest the relationship in the royal family. But not all Englishmen know about the origin of the dynasty, about the real names of its members and about other interesting facts.

The name of the ruling dynasty in Great Britain is Windsor. But until 1917 it was called Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which indicates its connection with the German rulers. During World War I, King George V decided to change the name of the dynasty in order to give up the German titles. He chose the surname Windsor after Windsor Castle, one of the royal residences. This surname became official to all members of the royal family. And after the wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth to Philip Mountbatten, the surname began to sound Mountbatten-Windsor.

Interestingly, none of the members of the royal family is required to use the surname. And when they go to school, serve or work, they can take a different surname. For example, Princes William and Harry were known in the army as Wales. And the two grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth from Princess Anne have their father's surname - Phillips.

Bemorepanda collected some more interesting facts about the royal family.

1. Princess Diana was supposed to play the main role in the 2nd part of "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner. A kissing scene was planned, but the film itself never came out due to the tragic death of Lady Dee in 1997 in a car accident in Paris. In the story, a romantic relationship between the protagonists begins when a bodyguard is tasked with protecting the princess from the paparazzi.

2. On their travels, Elizabeth II and her son Charles are accompanied by a doctor of the British Royal Navy, who must have a supply of their blood with him. This measure is necessary for an emergency transfusion in case of an emergency.

3. Shellfish, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and garlic are banned in Buckingham Palace, as sea creatures are allergenic and garlic has an unpleasant odor. However, this rule is now adhered to only by the queen.

4. Six ravens (and one spare) must always dwell in the Tower of London. According to one of the versions, this rule is observed, since the prediction of the royal court astrologer-monk Charles II (1630-1685) says: "If the crows leave the Tower, the kingdom will fall." After the famous fire of 1666, almost all the birds were exterminated, but thanks to the prophecy of the ravens, they were left in the care of the crown. They are considered part of the royal family, they have servants and a special raven keeper who is chosen from 38 members of the Tower's ceremonial Yeomen guard ("beefeaters"). In addition, the birds are officially enlisted in the ranks of the royal army.

5. Long before becoming part of the royal family, Kate Middleton lived with her family in Amman, Jordan. The father of the future Duchess, Michael Middleton, worked as a manager for British Airways and ended up in the Middle East on duty. Then Kate was 2 years old, but she already went to kindergarten and, in addition to English, studied Arabic. The Middletons have lived in Jordan for almost 3 years.

6. During the opening of the new session of Parliament, the Queen must take a hostage - one of the Members of Parliament, who will be guarded by the staff of Buckingham Palace throughout the ceremony. This tradition appeared due to the fact that earlier monarchs and parliament, to put it mildly, did not get along. Now everything is peaceful, but no one is going to change anything.

7. Queen Elizabeth II, then 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth, married Prince Philip on 20 November 1947 in a coupon-purchased wedding dress. She deliberately did not take advantage of her opportunities, since in the post-war period the whole country was slowly getting out of the ruins.

8. The crown of Elizabeth II is nothing more than the diadem of King George IV, created in 1820 at the request of the king himself. It is set with 1,333 diamonds for a total of 320 carats (64 g), including a 4-carat yellow diamond. There are 2 strands of pearls along the base. Initially, the upper thread had 86 pearls and the lower one - 94, but in 1902 the number of pearls was changed to 81 and 88.

9. To avoid embarrassment in windy weather, all the hem of the skirts of Queen Elizabeth II are weighed down by small loads

10. Initially, princes William and Harry were supposed to be called Arthur and Albert, as their father Charles wanted, but Lady Diana insisted on William and Harry, although Arthur and Albert are the middle names of the princes.

11. Queen Elizabeth II is a godmother for 30 crowned godchildren and this is not the limit.

12. Kate Middleton is a relative of George Washington.

13. At Christmas in the royal family, it is customary to give funny gifts. For example, Meghan Markle gave the Queen a toy singing hamster. But besides the fun, the royal couple - Elizabeth II and Prince Philip - must remember their duty. They send about 750 Christmas cards to heads of state, top politicians, Commonwealth leaders and family members.

14. Before and after Christmas dinner, all members of the royal family must weigh themselves. This long tradition was introduced by King Edward VII around 1900. He was very worried that someone would go away hungry after a sumptuous reception.

15. The Queen has the right to dissolve the current parliament both in Britain and in Australia and Canada.

16. Princess Diana gave her son, Prince William, an incredible 13th birthday surprise. Since the boy was in love with supermodel Cindy Crawford, she invited her to a festive tea party.

17. The most unusual titles that Elizabeth II bears are Duke of Lancanster and Duke of Normandy.

18. Pearl necklace of three strands almost always adorns the queen's neck - this is a visiting card of her style. When Elizabeth was 10 years old, she received such a necklace as a gift from her grandfather George V, and it became her favorite piece of jewelry.

A little later, Queen Mary, Elizabeth's grandmother, gave her pearl earrings. To this day, they, complete with a necklace, form part of the image of a modern monarch.

19. Since ancient times, monarchs from different countries have adopted a throne name during their time in power, which is different from that which was given to them at birth. In Britain, this tradition was also maintained. So, Queen Victoria was Princess Alexandrina before her coronation, and King George was named Albert. Elizabeth II chose not to change her name, because this is only permissible, but not mandatory for the monarch.

20. Elizabeth is often called the queen of England, but this is not true. First, she is the monarch of the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and England is just a part of it.

21. Misconceptions about princesses are no less common. Lady Dee after her wedding with Prince Charles began to be called the princess. However, she was not a princess by birth, so by all the rules her title should have sounded like "Her Royal Highness Princess Charles of Wales", as strange as it may sound.

22. As for the chosen one of their eldest son William, Kate Middleton is also not a princess. She married the Duke of Cambridgeshire, and therefore her official title is Duchess of Cambridge.

23. According to official sources, different family members have their own privileges in addressing the Queen. So, the husband of Elizabeth II calls her Lilibet. The future queen called herself this name when she was very little and could not pronounce “Elizabeth”.

24. Elizabeth II is very economical and serves as an excellent example in this for her subjects. So, it is known that she always turns off the light when leaving the room, and requires this from all the inhabitants of the palace. The queen wears the same dresses for a long time.

25. Representatives of Buckingham Palace report that all of the Queen's overseas travel is in accordance with the recommendations of the British government. Therefore, most often Elizabeth visits those countries in which she needs to be present based on current state affairs.

During her 65 years on the throne, the Queen has made over 120 official visits. Most often, the queen visited Canada (27 times) and Australia (18 times).

26. Some people who were born shortly before or immediately after the New Year celebrate their birthday twice, but in general, usually a person has one birthday. But the Queen has two of them - on April 21, she was born for real, and in May or June, official celebrations are usually organized on her birthday.

27. Queen Elizabeth II currently rules Britain for the longest time in history: her term of reign is now 64 years. Queen Victoria, who ruled before her, remained on the throne for 63 years and 216 days. Nowadays, it is difficult for a person not to lose his job even for a year, let alone more than 60 years!

28. Only in 2013, Great Britain moved away from the concept of male succession, thus proclaiming that any member of the royal family, regardless of gender, can inherit the throne. You may ask: how then did Elizabeth II ascend to the throne? Elementary: her father had no sons.

29. What is the Queen's surname? I think many would like to know. But in fact, this is not so important: being on the throne, a person can take almost any surname for himself. Elizabeth II's father changed his surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor; later Windsor became Mountbatten-Windsor.

30. If you have ever seen Buckingham Palace up close, at least in a movie, you know that it is huge. It is located on an area of ​​77,000 square meters, it has 775 rooms and about 800 employees who keep it and the life of the royal family normal. There are cooks, maids, butlers, security guards and even watchmakers!