Here’s Why You Never Hear Prince William’s Last Name (and 4 Other Royal Family Facts)

Royals—they’re just like us! Just kidding, they’re NOTHING like us. In fact, carrying a title comes with quite a bit of responsibility, and only recently have strict age-old traditions begun to slowly change.

Today, we are going to take you through a handful of ways the members of the royal family live such unique lives. We doubt you’ve ever heard of these behind-the-scenes secrets before!

  1. They can’t elope

    It perhaps comes as no surprise to you that royal heirs to the throne can’t just opt for a hush-hush justice-of-the-peace ceremony. Unless they want to forfeit their title entirely, all marriages must be approved by the current king or queen.

    These days, it looks like things are getting pretty serious between the dashing Prince Harry and his actress girlfriend Meghan Markle. Word on the street is that Markle has yet to meet the Queen, so we’ll all have to stay tuned to see how her majesty will take to her grandson’s main squeeze.

  2. Attending school is a new tradition

    Believe it or not, Prince Charles was the first royal heir to not have a tutor, and Prince William was the very first to attend school. In 1987, his parents, Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana enrolled him at the prestigious all-boys Wetherby prep school, a place his younger brother, Prince Harry, also later attended.

    This fall, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, shocked the British public by forgoing the fancy private school route. Instead, the couple enrolled their oldest, Prince George, in a relatively unknown London school called Thomas Battersea’s, a place that—wait for it—is filled with middle-class kids. Times certainly are changing!

  3. Last names aren’t necessary

    Have you ever wondered why royals are never referred to by their last names? Like Prince and Madonna, they are just so famous they don’t need a surname! Here’s how it works

    Prince William, for example, has a full title that is meant to replace his birth name. His last name is actually Mountbatten-Windsor (weird, right?!), but he is only ever referred to as Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Not a bad title, if you ask us!

  4. Hospital births are not common

    According to our research, a whole lot changed when Prince Charles married Princess Diana. Along with sending their children to school with commoners, Prince William was the first royal ever to be born in a hospital.

    Fun fact: a couple of years ago, The Daily Mail reported that Princess Diana hired a natural birth expert, Shiela Kitzinger, to be by her side through the process. Before her death, Kitzinger reported that the Princess actually gave birth to Prince William standing up!

  5. New prince and princesses’ births are marked with gun salutes

    The birth of a new royal is so important that it’s tradition for a gun salute to be performed in order to spread news of the blessed occasion to the public. The last salute of this kind was given for Princess Charlotte, and the next will be when the Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to her third child in March 2018.

To get even more info on how the Royal Family functions, be sure to watch the video below. Heads up, don’t be looking TOO closely for that fourth fact—whoops! You’ll see what we mean when you take a look at the clip.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on these intriguing royal realities. Did any of these facts surprise you? Do you disagree with these traditions? Who is your favorite royal family member?