When Kate Middleton Became a Royal, She Had to Make a Big Change to Her Manicures

Ah, the royal family—these guys really do have THE life, don’t they? From lavish weddings to incredible jewelry to tons of power, it’s these lucky Brits’ world, we’re just living in it! All the same, there are downsides to everything in life, even for those who call palaces their homes.

We can all agree that lack of privacy is probably the biggest consequence of being royal—just ask poor Princess Di!—but there are plenty of other smaller ones that we commoners don’t take the time to consider— namely, style.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Royals aren’t allowed to wear whatever they fancy in public. After all, you don’t see Kate walking around looking like a Kardashian—though we definitely would pay to see that!

Whether they are on official domestic business or touring abroad, royals must adhere to a very strict code of conduct, which, believe it or not, includes details as seemingly minuscule as nail polish color.

Don’t believe us? Just go ahead and Google Kate Middleton, and take a look at her hands in any one of the hundreds of images. Unless you’re colorblind, you’ll quickly come to this conclusion:

She’s not allowed to wear colored polish.

Yep, one of the many rules outlined in the Royals’ official code of conduct concerns manicures. According to Marie Claire UK, brightly colored—that includes classic red—nails are never allowed in public because they look too “garish.”

Now, it may seem like a harsh rule, but the detail quickly makes sense once you consider the source—the Queen herself. You see, the reigning monarch has reportedly never been seen with anything but light pink nails, more specifically, Essie’s Nail Lacquer in the color Ballet Slippers. In fact, she’s been rocking this same exact drug store polish for the past 30 years!

It’s quite the versatile neutral shade and one that’s actually “in” nowadays. As a matter of fact, Duchess Kate herself has been seen sporting a similar shade almost just as often as her grandmother-in-law. She even wore it on her wedding day!

Most recently, a would-be royal family member, Meghan Markle, was spotted wearing a very similar polish at the Invictus Games. Perhaps Prince Harry’s main squeeze is trying to tell us something?!

Other surprising strict royal rules

A while back, we gave you the lowdown on why Will and Kate can’t show any type of PDA in public, but there are plenty of other royal rules that are just plain bizarre.

Take the case of Princess Diana’s “shrinking” stature, for instance. When the late Diana and her ex-husband Prince Charles were still together, all of their official portraits featured one strange detail—the prince was much taller than his wife. It’s really quite odd, considering the two were exactly the same height.

Although the royal family has never confirmed it, many conspiracy theorists believe that this points to a rule against royal males being “belittled” by their female counterparts. Weird stuff, indeed!

We can’t wait to hear your take on this royal manicure rule. Do you think that Kate should be allowed to sport red polish? Are you a fan of the Queen’s neutral look? Did you have any odd rules growing up that you were made to follow?