Royal Family Members Who Live Like Normal People

It seems like all royal family members are followed around by paparazzi and fans. From details of their lives at home to their outings to their outfits, it appears as though every aspect of royal life is examined, that a royal can't sneeze in public without it being reported.

With that kind of media attention, it's safe to say that most of us know that the high-profile royals do not live normal lives. Despite having children and being parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton have a jam-packed public schedule that takes them from event to charity organization to party — plus, Middleton gets to wear tiaras, not exactly something that screams everyday life. It seems as though all royals live in literal palaces, have public responsibilities, and are representatives of one of the United Kingdom's longest-standing institutions.

But not all royals get the same attention, and perhaps surprisingly, not all are given the same perks. In fact, there are many members of the royal family — whether by birth or marriage — who hold normal jobs, who went to university, or who didn't even know that they were royal at one point. Here's everything you need to know about royal family members who live like normal people.

Prince Charles is the queen's child who gets the most public attention, so it's easy to understand how his siblings have been able to slip under the radar. Prince Edward is one of them. At his birth, Edward was third in line to the throne (with his two brothers in front of him and his sister behind him), as noted by Town & Country. But as Charles and his children have had their own kids, Edward's distance from the crown has grown, and, as such, he's been able to live a pretty normal life. 

Unlike all of his siblings, Edward has been able to maintain his first and only marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones, and after a private wedding ceremony (not the grand affair that we know royal weddings to be), the couple had two children. Edward served in the marines and then spent a portion of his career in television production, and he has only recently returned to somewhat of a royal schedule in part due to his father's retirement from public life. But considering that he is one of the queen's children, Edward has been able to live a pretty average life.

There's more to Princess Eugenie being normal that her having a "regular" childhood. The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson traded tea parties for conference rooms and turned her education and passion into a career, much like her sister, Princess Eugenie. 

As Beatrice is not a working royal, she forged a path and a career of her own — and found herself running the show. After studying history in school, the tech-obsessed royal worked hard and became the vice-president of partnerships and strategy for Afiniti, a tech company headquartered in the United States, as noted by Vogue. Honestly, get it, sis. (Can we say that about a royal? We hope so because she's killing the game). 

Tech and cyber matters clearly are important to this royal family member because, in addition to her high-profile job, she partnered up with Be Cool, Be Nice, a campaign that brings awareness to cyberbullying. "We need to be supportive of our young people, given that our world is over-exposed," she told Vogue, and, given that Beatrice has been bullied herself, her alignment with such a cause makes a lot of sense.

When we think of royals, we think of fancy hats, tea parties, and tiaras. But Zara Phillips Tindall, one of the children of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips and a sister to Peter Phillips, focused her life (outside of the hardcore royals) on her career in athletics and became an actual Olympian. Love that for her. 

As noted by The Guardian, Zara followed in her mother's equestrian footsteps and started receiving recognition for her athletic career in the early 2000s. In 2006, she won the world championships with her horse, Toytown, and was chosen as the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year that December. Her career was lightly derailed after that, as her horse suffered injuries in both 2004 and 2008, but she persevered and appeared in the London Olympic games as a member of the British equestrian team in 2012 — talk about a home court advantage. 

"It's awesome to be given this opportunity," Zara said about the games. Regarding her competing with horse High Kingdom, she added, "I am really excited and can't wait to kick on and get him there." Zara is married to Mike Tindall, a former England rugby player and captain.

There doesn't seem to be a ton of public attention given to Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and there should be because she's a boss. As noted by Town & Country, Sophie forged her own path as a professional woman before marrying Prince Edward — she worked in public relations and even formed her own company. She stepped down in 2001, but has continued to champion women in the workforce and is a vocal advocate for gender equality. 

While she has given more time to her royal life and as a mom to her two children in recent years, it's clear that Sophie's normal past and her career made a tremendous impact on the work that she has been involved with. She started the Women in Business Committee and, in 2014, started the Women's Network Forum. Clearly, she has been a fearless pursuer of gender balance. 

"She really is down to earth, gives them incredibly good advice," Amanda Pullinger, CEO of 100 Women in Finance, said about Sophie. "She actually asks incredibly smart questions and it really does reflect the fact that she had a professional life before she became a royal."

While we can't say that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's life has always been normal, they're on their way to living a more low-key life. After leaving their roles as senior members of the royal family, the couple and their son, Archie, relocated to California and are starting to live life under the radar. As noted by People, they were spotted during the 2020 Christmas season buying a tree and went pretty undetected. According to one of the workers at the tree farm, a little boy ran up to Harry and asked the prince if he worked there. Cue the tears because of how adorable this is. 

The couple celebrated their first Christmas in California at home, and were probably joined by Markle's mom, Doria Ragland, who lives in Los Angeles. As noted by People, they released their annual Christmas card that featured an illustration of the family in their backyard, accompanied by the dogs, of course. "It's Harry's second Christmas away from England, and Meghan wants to make sure it's special for everyone," a source told People. "They are creating their own traditions at their new home."

While they're still doing interviews and making headlines, the two seem to lead a more normal life now than the one they led as senior members of the royal family.

Kate Middleton is famously known as the commoner who married into the royal family, but she's not the only one. Jack Brooksbank, Princess Eugenie's husband, came from a pretty normal family and forged his own career path before marrying into the royals. 

As noted by People, his parents, Nicola and George, sent their son to an English private school in his earlier years. Brooksbank then skipped the usual path of university and went straight into the hospitality industry, in which he has held a number of jobs, including a stint as a London nightclub manager, according to Town & Country. 

So what does Brooksbank do now? He is none other than the U.K. ambassador for Casamigos tequila, owned by none other than George Clooney and Rande Gerber. We swear we're not making this up. And his job has apparently made him a hit with the in-laws. "The good news is Jack also works as the European Manager for Casamigos Tequila, so I am perfect," Sarah Ferguson, Eugenie's mom, once said (via Express). "He'll just hand me the tequila and say, 'Come on, mother-in-law, down it.'"

As noted by Insider, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, announced in September 2020 that they were expecting their first child. Their baby boy was born in February 2021, and named August Philip Hawke Brooksbank. For a number of reasons, the little one is destined to live the life of an everyday kid. Royal titles are passed through the male line and Brooksbank does not have a title, so the baby doesn't have the designation of prince. Eugenie reportedly didn't want her little one to have a title even if it was offered by the queen, so her son doesn't have one (via Insider). 

"Even if the Queen offered them a title as a gift, it's not Eugenie or Jack's desire for their child to have a title," a close friend of the couple told Vanity Fair. "Eugenie knows that a title can be a curse as well as a blessing and she and Jack want their child to live an ordinary life and eventually work to earn a living. Titles really don't matter to Jack and Eugenie, they just want a happy healthy child." We love to see it.