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10 Things Meghan Markle Will Have to Give Up After the Royal Wedding

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As fancy as a royal wedding sounds, marrying a prince is tough work. And while Prince Harry is undeniably swoon-worthy, compromise is something Meghan Markle will have to do when she marries her knight in shining uniform. In fact, she’s going to have to give up a quite a few things — starting with her name.

Her Name

Granted, most newlyweds do opt to take on their spouse’s surname, but Meghan will not have a choice in the matter. From May 19 on, Meghan will go from being called Rachel Meghan Markle to Rachel Meghan Mountbatten-Windsor (even though we’ll probably continue to refer to her as Meghan Markle).

Partying

Pre-royal-wedding Meghan Markle loved a party, whether she was at a cast party or having a blast at fashion week. But alas, the days of public fun are gone. It also means we won’t see her sharing all the fun freebies she’s scored from goodie bags with the world.

Public Drinking and Girls’ Trips

One of the many reasons we adore Meghan is because she’s just so relatable. Meghan loves a glass of wine with dinner (as do do we!). In fact, her now-defunct blog The Tig was named after her favorite drop of red Tignanello.

Her old Instagram page was filled with dinners featuring many glasses of wine (because wine not?!), and she certainly enjoyed her girls’ getaways. Technically, she can continue doing all this, but it has be to hush-hush. Luckily, she lives in a castle, so that should help things.

Her Social Media Presence

Markle said goodbye to her lifestyle website, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram — all in the name of love. If she ever misses social media, then she can always take over Kensington Palace’s social accounts.

Her Style

It is undeniable that Meghan Markle knows good fashion. In her 36 years, she’s undergone a range of style evolutions. We saw her rock the classic Deal or No Deal dress, and who could forget her obsession with showing off her legs? (With legs like that, we understand the sentiment completely.) But Meghan must now dress demurely.

Gone are the days of (but not limited to): dark nails, shorts, black outfits unless she’s at a funeral or it is Remembrance Day, tights, fake-fur vests, cleavage, and huge handbags.

Her Day Job

Last November, it was confirmed that Meghan Markle had quit the legal drama Suits. She then decided to stop acting all together. “I don’t see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change,” Meghan said in her first joint interview with Prince Harry in November.

“It’s a new chapter, right? And also, keep in mind, I’ve been working on [Suits] for seven years. We were very, very fortunate to have that sort of longevity on a series,” she explained during their engagement interview last year. “I’ve ticked this box, and I feel very proud of the work I’ve done there, and now it’s time to work with [Harry] as a team.”

Fun Fact: Meghan won’t be allowed to sign autographs anymore due to the risk of her signature being forged!

Her US Citizenship

It’s time to forget about “The Star-Spangled Banner;” her new anthem is “God Save the Queen.” Technically, Meghan Markle could retain her American citizenship and become a dual citizen, though that seems unlikely.

Speaking about Meghan’s journey to becoming a British citizen, which requires her to apply for a family visa, Prince Harry’s communications secretary, Jason Knauf, said Ms. Markle would be “compliant with immigration requirements at all times.”

“I can also say she intends to become a UK citizen and will go through the process of that, which some of you may know takes a number of years,” he added.

Fun fact: In order to become a British citizen, Harry and Meghan will need to prove their relationship is real. Proof could include records of email, texts, phone conversations, vacation photos, and flight tickets. Something tells us they’ll be just fine.

PDA

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will need to remain strong and abstain when it comes to public displays of affection. It looks like it’s something the crazy-in-love couple are struggling with, but eventually they’ll need to tone it down. Who can forget when the queen had a stern word over their hand-holding?

Her Political Stances — Maybe

When Meghan becomes a member of the royal family, she will be discouraged from taking a political stance on any issues. In fact, royals are not even allowed to vote! On the monarchy’s website it states, “As head of state, the Queen has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters.”

Meghan, however, is a philanthropist, an activist who has long fought for women’s rights and gender equality, and has very strong values about human rights and international politics. Staying mum on the things she believes in could be difficult.

During a panel discussion with her fiancé, Kate Middleton, and Prince William, the actress shared her opinion on women’s empowerment. “I hear a lot of people speaking about girls’ empowerment and women’s empowerment — you will hear people saying they are helping women find their voices,” Meghan said. “I fundamentally disagree with that because women don’t need to find their voices, they need to be empowered to use it and people need to be urged to listen.” While she may be expected to remain quiet on such matters, Meghan is setting a new precedent for herself.

Talking about political movement Time’s Up and #MeToo, she said, “Right now with so many campaigns like #MeToo and Time’s Up, there’s no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them.” It will be interesting how she uses her voice when she’s a royal.

One thing is certain — she has Prince Harry’s undying support. Praising her, he gushed, “I am personally incredibly proud and excited that my soon-to-be-wife who is equally passionate about seeing positive change in the world will soon be joining us with this work.”

Her Californian Accent

Meghan was born and raised as a California girl, but etiquette expert Zarife Hardy predicts Meghan will eventually lose her Californian accent and adopt a British one.

“I think that American accent will definitely be refined. Changing accents takes a long time, but you’ve only got to look at Princess Mary to see how her Australian accent vanished,” Hardy tells us. “She’ll have to become a little more British and will be in elocution classes as well as history classes to brush up on the rich tapestry of the royal family,” she added.

This article was written by Chloe Lal. For more, check out our sister site, Now to Love.

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