Things Meghan Markle can't do after she marries Prince Harry

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Brittany Brolley @brittanybrolley

With all eyes on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's upcoming nuptials, it's pretty easy to forget about all the things that will take place after the big day. Marrying into British royalty is a bit different than becoming a Disney princess. By that we mean there are rules.

It's true that Markle has already begun making some major compromises for her Prince Charming. For one, Markle, who is actually Protestant, will have to be baptized and confirmed into the Church of England prior to marrying Prince Harry, The Telegraph reported. According to New York Post, Markle has also already sold her home in Toronto, Canada. Though we're sure she doesn't mind bunking with royalty. Of course, Markle's both small- and large-scale concessions will only increase in number after the royal wedding.

Here are some things that Markle will be barred from doing after she says "I do" at St. George's Chapel in the spring of 2018.

So long, selfies

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Pictures abound of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle greeting well-wishers in Nottingham after announcing their engagement. However, what you won't see are any selfies of the pair — whether alone, with each other, or with members of the crowds. Taking a selfie seems like an innocuous thing to do but they're a no for royals.

Matthew Barzun, a United States ambassador with whom the Queen confided, explained Queen Elizabeth's disdain for cell phone photography to Tatler magazine (via The Telegraph). Apparently, the Queen finds it "strange" to see a sea of cell phones aimed at her when she walks toward a crowd. As far as first-world problems go, this one may pretty much take the cake. Still, it's not hard to understand her point. "She was essentially saying: 'I miss eye contact,'" Barzun explained.

It seems the Queen's personal distaste for selfies has trickled down to the rest of the royal family. You won't find any selfies taken by these Brits and the only selfies of Markle you'll find are from her pre-Harry days.

No more signing autographs

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signing autographs

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As an actress, Meghan Markle has likely signed her fair share of autographs. As a soon-to-be royal, however, those days are now behind her. The reason for this is understandable: royals are prohibited from signing autographs due to the risk of signature forgery, as explained by Express. But, what fun are rules if you can't break them from time to time, right?

When asked to sign autographs, Prince Charles usually defaults to an apology and tells the public he is unable to do so, The Telegraph reported. Be that as it may, when visiting the Lostwithiel area after a natural disaster, a man whose home had been badly damaged asked for his John Hancock. Charles, feeling moved, obliged by writing "Charles 2010." He may have technically broken the rules but he didn't actually sign his name.

Markle did something similar in January of 2018 for a 10-year-old fan. According to Time, instead of signing her name on the paper provided, Markle wrote "Hi Kaitlin." Since Markle hasn't attempted this again, the Queen may feel a certain kind of way about skirting the rules. No more autographs — signatures or not — it seems.

Voting is out

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Meghan Markle is far from being apolitical. Robert Lacey, a historian and biographer of Queen Elizabeth told The Guardian, "I can see that this is going to be a real problem in the months and years ahead for her, an existential problem. I don't imagine the Queen will be in a rush to have Meghan at Balmoral [royal family's vacation house in Scotland] when Trump visits." This poses a bit of a conundrum for Markle as a soon-to-be member of the royal family because they are expected to stay mum regarding politics — including their thoughts on specific politicians.

Per the official website of the British royal family, the Queen must "remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters." This includes voting in elections. Although the Queen is the only one explicitly prohibited from politics, members of the royal family abide by the same policy. Unfortunately for Markle, this means she will not be able to share her political views after marrying Harry.

No more bare legs for Meg

Meghan Markle bare legs Prince Harry engagement

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When pictures surfaced of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announcing their engagement, your eyes may have fixated on the ring immediately. After all, seeing the ring is what most of us want to do when someone we know gets engaged. The ring turned out to be beautiful, as was to be expected, but Markle's legs were what actually stole the show that day. Specifically, her bare legs.

Royal expert Victoria Arbiter explained the situation to Business Insider, saying, "You never see a royal without their nude stockings." Uh-oh. Arbiter added, "I would say that's really the only hard, steadfast rule in terms of what the Queen requires."

It could be that Markle didn't know the pantyhose policy at that time — ugh, Harry, why didn't you tell her? — as she now abides by the Queen's preference. Since this is a rule Markle has already begun embracing, it will undoubtedly continue to be important after the big day.

Best not go to bed before the Queen

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It may be obvious to you by now that Queen Elizabeth has some pretty peculiar policies. One of the strangest may be the very one Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, hated to follow.

In an interview for Juliet Rieden's book, The Royals in Australia (via The Telegraph), the Queen's private secretary, Sir William Heseltine, told of Diana's agony while sitting through long royal dinners.

He explained, "There'd be an hour or so in the sitting room of everyone sitting around making conversation, and nobody felt it right to go to bed before the Queen did." Eventually, Diana got so sick of the pomp and circumstance that she'd excuse herself and go to bed anyway, despite it being considered "rather bad form."

If Markle is looking to stay in Queen Elizabeth's good graces, she probably shouldn't follow in Diana's footsteps. When staying at the Queen's residence, she'll unfortunately have to put up with the long — and probably sometimes boring — dinners and social engagements and wait up until the Queen decides to hit the hay.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200

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As far as board games go, Monopoly is probably one of the worst, aside from Risk of course — eek. Monopoly is really only fun if you win and really, does anyone really play long enough to win?

Apparently Queen Elizabeth shares this sentiment too. According to The Telegraph, Prince Andrew, a son of the Queen, brought the popular game to the headquarters of the Leeds Building Society because he's literally "not allowed" to play it back home. Apparently, the game gets too vicious.

You have to wonder how the Queen decided that Monopoly was just too vicious to play. Did she hear horrible tales of others who played the game? Could it have caused an epic royal battle in the past? We may never know. One can only hope that Meghan Markle is not a die-hard Monopoly fan. If she is, that may just cause some serious tension between her and her soon-to-be grandmother-in-law!

Who's Meghan Markle?

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Did you know that Markle's first name isn't actually Meghan? When Queen Elizabeth formally consented to Harry marrying Markle, this news was officially confirmed. Meghan Markle is actually Rachel Meghan Markle. Ironically, Rachel is also the name of Markle's character on Suits. It seems Markle prefers to go by Meghan as this is the name used on the royal wedding invitations. Regardless of which name she prefers best, Markle's name is going to be changing come her wedding day — and in a big way.

According to an interview with royal expert Imogen Lloyd Webber for People, Markle will definitely earn the title Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales. However, the Queen is also expected to give Harry a new title (Duke) after wedding Markle. The two most likely options for Markle then become the Duchess of Sussex or Duchess of Clarence — much like Kate Middleton's title, Duchess of Cambridge. The money seems to be on Duchess of Sussex, which is pretty spectacular — it even rhymes!

No more acting for this actress

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When someone marries into the royal family, their careers don't often come with them. When Prince Philip married Queen Elizabeth some 70 years ago, he became her consort and remained one for over six decades, his biography explains. Prince Philip's days were, and still are, filled with official duties.

Although Philip was not an actor like Meghan Markle, his official responsibilities crowded out the ability to lead a "normal" life. Grace Kelly, who was an actor prior to marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco, left her Hollywood career behind.

Markle has decided to follow suit — by quitting Suits. In an interview with BBC, Markle explained her decision, saying, "I don't see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change. It's a new chapter." Harry, who was also present for the interview, added, "It's not easy for anybody, but I know that at the end of the day she chooses me and I choose her and whatever we have to tackle together or individually will always be us together as a team, so I think she's capable of anything."

It seems her last role may just be a one-off television show. That is, of course, the much-anticipated televised royal wedding!

Traveling solo is a no-go

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Meghan Markle's days of being able to travel solo are already becoming a thing of the past. According to Express, the royal-to-be was issued royal protection officers in the wake of her engagement to Harry. As you might expect, all current and prospective members of the royal family need ample security.

According to Gordon Rayner, a writer for The Telegraph who has attended 20 royal tours, the royal family has some unique security needs. Heightened security is especially needed and utilized while they're away on royal tours. For example, Rayner wrote, "Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall sometimes take their own alcohol so there's no danger of their drinks being spiked." Yikes!

Additionally, the royal tours may look effortless to an outsider but they can actually take six months to plan. Rayner gave his perspective, saying, "Touring the world meeting heads of state and being shown cultural treasures sounds like a wonderful life. Yet I have no envy for the Royal family."

He added that their site visits are hardly ever longer than 40 minutes at a time and they likely will not travel to that same location again. Thankfully, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will at least get a real honeymoon. Well, as real as you can get when you need to be guarded 24/7.