What Meghan Markle Is No Longer Allowed To Eat Or Wear, By Order Of Queen Elizabeth II
The Duchess of Sussex is reportedly not amused by her latest lessons in Royal etiquette.
Getty Images Many of us envision life as a member of the Royal Family to be quite lush.
Dressed in diamonds, constantly being chauffeured around and schmoozing with kings and queens of other far-off lands ... Straight from a fairytale, right?
Maybe not, seeing as the tradeoff for this kind of luxury hinges on willingness to follow an oddly long list of Royal rules issued by Queen Elizabeth II herself, and which includes abstaining from eating food with garlic and having the selection of pants suits you're allowed to wear severely restricted.
Because that's the world Meghan Markle, newly crowned Duchess of Sussex, is living in, and if you're wondering how she feels about it, word on the street is that, well, she's kind of over it.
A source recently revealed to People Magazine that in the two months following her marriage to Prince Harry, Markle has found herself having a tough time navigating at least some of the Royal Family's "outdated", if not totally bizarre, rules.
"[Meghan] has found certain rules in the royal household difficult to understand, like the fact that the Queen prefers women in dresses or skirts rather than trouser suits, and is often asking Harry why things have to be done in a certain way,” the source said.
“I think she finds it a little frustrating at times, but this is her new life, and she has to deal with it."
Markle has found herself making a number of Royal Family protocol no-no's, including flubbing the whole thing about how members of the Royal Family are expected NOT to discuss political matters.
During her first official overseas visit trip with Prince Harry as a married couple, Markle made headlines after Irish Senator Catherine Noone tweeted that the Duchess had discussed Ireland's recent legalization of abortion.
In the since deleted tweet, Noone wrote:
“A pleasure to meet Prince Harry & the Duchess of Sussex at the British Ambassador’s Residence this evening. The Duchess & I had a chat about the recent referendum result — she watched with interest & was pleased to see the result.”
“That’s an example of her naïveté,” Robert Lacey, historical consultant for "The Crown" on Netflix and Royal Biographer, told People.
“Within the royal family they talk freely, and everyone knows the rules. She’s learning the hard way that you can’t trust anyone outside the narrow circle.”
While some of the rules seem old school but understandable, a few are honestly, quite insane.
Apparently, Queen Elizabeth is not a fan of garlic, and even less of a fan of speaking to people who have garlic breath.
So much so, that she banned all members of the Royal Family from eating it in any form when they're abroad for state banquets and events.
While the Queen herself doesn't want any garlic on her plate at any time ever, what she's really trying accomplish with this rule is any awkward mishaps in which British Royals might be accused of having bad breath during official meetings.
And in a heartbreaking turn of events, it just so happens that garlic is one of Markle's staple food ingredients.
Before she joined the Royal Family, the former actress used to rave about her love of Filipino-style chicken adobo, which requires a few chunks of the forbidden delicacy in order to be made authentically.
"It's so easy," she wrote in a 2012 blog, "combine garlic, soy, vinegar, maybe some lemon and let the chicken swim in that sauce until it falls off the bone in a Crock Pot."
(Cut-scene to reveal the newly minted Duchess sobbing on the floor of her Royal kitchen, hugging a Crock Pot full of flavorless chicken and remembering back to simpler times...)
And if that wasn't enough, garlic isn't the only food item devout foodie Markle isn't allowed to eat.
Because shellfish is associated with a high risk of food poisoning, lobster, crab and the like are now officially off the menu for Markle when traveling on official Royal business.
The Queen doesn't want anyone getting sick and messing up their travel plans, or getting sick on anyone while traveling, which is honestly a smart move for anyone to follow.
Thankfully, Markle can reply on the assistance of Samantha Cohen, the senior palace adviser tasked with overseeing six months of "Duchess training" duty.
Let's all hope the woman known around Buckingham Palace as "Samantha the Panther" doesn't have a secret garlic detox program hidden somewhere in those plans.
Emily Blackwood is an editor at YourTango who covers pop culture, dating, relationships and everything in between. Every Wednesday at 7:20 p.m. you can ask her any and all questions about self-love, dating, and relationships LIVE on YourTango’s Facebook page. You can follow her on Instagram, Twitter or on her website.