A look at 10 facts you probably never knew about the royal family

Even with Prince Harry’s recent tell-all memoir “Spare,” there is still a lot we don’t know about the royal family. But some interesting details about the mysterious family have surfaced — such as how some royal family members get their shoe laces ironed and why they don’t use last names.

Here are 10 interesting facts about the royal family you may not already know.

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1. Queen Elizabeth II had someone break in her shoes

Queen Elizabeth II had a designated person to break in her shoes for her, Elizabeth’s longtime aide, Angela Kelly shared in her tell-all book, “The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen.”

“As has been reported a lot in the press, a flunky wears in Her Majesty’s shoes to ensure that they are comfortable and that she is always good to go,” wrote Kelly, per People. “And yes, I am that flunky.”

“The Queen has very little time to herself and not time to wear in her own shoes, and as we share the same shoe size it makes the most sense this way,” Kelly continued.

Stewart Parvin — who designed Elizabeth’s wardrobe for 11 years — revealed to The Evening Standard in 2017 that a staff member would walk the Buckingham Palace grounds to ensure Elizabeth’s shoes were “immediately comfortable.”

“The Queen can never say, ’I’m uncomfortable, I can’t walk anymore.’ She has the right to have someone wear them in,” Pavin added.

2. King Charles gets his shoelaces ironed and has a personal toothpaste squeezer

Before taking the throne, King Charles III was nicknamed the “pampered prince” by his staff at Clarence House because apparently he has “everything done for him,” according to Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, who revealed details of Charles’ lifestyle in the 2015 Amazon Prime documentary “Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm.”

“His pajamas are pressed every morning, his shoe laces are pressed flat with an iron, the bath plug has to be in a certain position, and the water temperature has to be just tepid,” said Burrell, adding that Charles even “has his valets squeeze one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush every morning.”

3. Elizabeth owned more than 30 corgis in her lifetime

During her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth was accompanied by dozens of royal corgis. Her love of corgis began as a young girl, when, at just 7 years old, she decided she wanted one of her own, the BBC reported. Elizabeth named her first corgi Dookie. It was the beginning of a royal phenomenon.

The line of royal corgis that provided companionship to the queen for seven decades began with Susan — a Pembroke Welsh corgi gifted to Elizabeth for her 18th birthday. Susan faithfully remained by the queen’s side for 15 years, including when she ascended the throne at 25 years old.

“I had always dreaded losing her,” the queen wrote following Susan’s death in 1959, according to the BBC, “but I am ever so thankful that her suffering was so mercifully short.”

In the decades that followed Susan’s death, Elizabeth owned more than 30 of Susan’s descendants. Her corgi Willow was Susan’s final descendant.

“She has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about Willow’s death than any of them. … It is probably because Willow was the last link to her parents and a pastime that goes back to her own childhood. It really does feel like the end of an era,” a source close to Buckingham Palace told the Daily Mail after Willow’s death.

4. Princess Anne competed in the Olympics

Princess Anne, otherwise known as the princess royal, was the first member of the royal family to compete in the Olympic Games. She rode the queen’s horse, Goodwill, at the 1976 Olympics in the equestrian three-day event, per the royal family’s official website.

She did not approach a medal during the Olympic competition, but remains a respected equestrian. Anne competed in several European three-day event championships and won an individual gold medal at the 1971 Burghley and team silver medals in 1975 at Luhmuhlen.

Anne later served as president of the International Equestrian Federation and is currently the honorary president of the British Olympic Association, per the official Olympics website.

5. Charles dated Diana’s sister first

Before Charles courted and married Diana, he had a short-lived romance with her older sister, Lady Sarah Spencer.

“Charles makes me laugh a lot. I really enjoy being with him,” Spencer admitted to a reporter, per Marie Claire. “But there is no chance of my marrying him. I’m not in love with him. And I wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love.”

Years later, Spencer introduced her younger sister, Diana, to Charles. When asked about Charles’ and Diana’s 1981 engagement, Sarah took credit for setting the pair up.

“I introduced them. I’m Cupid,” said Sarah, per The Guardian.

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6. King Charles can drive without a license

The monarch is the only person in the U.K. who can drive without a license or plates on their car, reports Harper’s Bazaar. They don’t even need to take a driver’s test.

Elizabeth drove without a license, but she was a trained driver. While serving in the Army in World War II, Elizabeth was trained as a military driver and mechanic, per Insider.

7. The queen traveled with her own supply of blood

When traveling by plane, Elizabeth wouldn’t leave her castle without her own supply of blood. Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, claims that royal planes carry blood products that match the royal’s blood type.

“(You’ve) got to make sure that you’re covering every eventuality,” Arbiter said on “Hello’s A Right Royal Podcast,” “and the aircraft would carry blood in case there was blood transfusion. There’s never any guarantee you are going to get the right type of blood at your destination.”

Royal planes are packed with more medical backup care than blood. Gordan Rayner, a reporter with the Independent who has been on more than 20 royal tours, shared just how much emergency medicine the royal family travels with.

“In countries where a reliable blood supply is questionable, the Queen and the Prince of Wales both travel with their own personal packs of blood following in their convoy wherever they go,” Rayner said, per The Telegraph. “Their doctor is never more than a few paces away, carrying a bulky medical bag containing a mobile defibrillator and all manner of emergency medicine.”

8. The royal family’s last name is Mountbatten-Windsor

Up until 1917, members of the royal family had no surnames. Royals were known by the name of the house or dynasty they belonged to.

Surnames were bestowed on members of the royal family when George V specifically adopted Windsor — it became the family surname, per the official royal family website. It was later decided that Queen Elizabeth’s descendants would carry the name Mountbatten-Windsor.

Still, most members of the royal family don’t use a surname. Surnames are typically used only by royal family members who do not have official titles. This is because royals are usually so well known that they do not require a surname to be recognized.

Additionally, surnames can derive from heir family’s official title. For example, Prince George adopted the last name Cambridge at school, from William’s title as Duke of Cambridge.

“Members of the Royal Family can be known both by the name of the Royal house, and by a surname, which are not always the same. And often they do not use a surname at all,” reports the official royal family website.

9. ‘The Princess Charlotte effect’

Charlotte is already a royal fashion icon. Minutes after William and Kate introduced their less-than-a-day-old daughter, draped in a shawl, the designers of that very shawl were flooded with eager customers hoping to match with the young princess.

“It was within a few minutes we noticed on our website that the shawl was starting to sell,” Gillian Taylor, director at the Nottingham-based company G.H. Hurt & Sons recalls of that iconic day in 2015, per The Telegraph. More than 10,000 people from over 183 countries visited the company’s site.

Just about every time Charlotte makes an public appearance, it sparks a shopping frenzy from parents hoping to match the young princess’ look. The Telegraph nicknamed the phenomenon “the Princess Charlotte effect.”

“Personally, I think the Duchess of Cambridge always gets it just right when it comes to her fashion choices. She combines high street with designer, wears lots of British brands and is known for wearing outfits on several occasions,” children’s designer Rachel Riley told Hello!.

“I have no doubt that Princess Charlotte will become as much of a style icon as her mother is, and I look forward to seeing Princess Charlotte’s style develop as she continues to grow and mature.”

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10. Prince Harry’s real name is Henry

Prince Harry’s real name is Henry Charles Albert David — but he is better known as Harry. He doesn’t know why he was given the nickname, though.

“My name is Henry as well,” Harry told Entertainment Tonight in 2022. “But everyone calls me Harry. I have no idea why.”