We look to the royal family for fashion inspiration and endless entertainment (read: Prince William’s dad jokes and Queen Elizabeth’s pranks), but did you know they also have a couple of handy life hacks up their sleeves? From the queen’s favorite household jewelry cleaner to Meghan Markle’s tip for reducing fly-aways, here are seven royal hacks we’re committing to memory.
7 Life Hacks We've Learned from the Royal Family
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Published Aug 6, 2021
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1. Gin Cleans Diamonds The Best
Queen Elizabeth, 95, has a lot of diamonds. As such, her team has learned a couple of tricks that help keep them clean. When Her Majesty’s dresser and personal secretary released snippets of her memoir, The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe ($29 on Amazon), we learned that a combination of gin and water is used to keep the queen’s gems gleaming.
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2. Yoga Helps Jet Lag (& Morning Sickness)
When the now 40-year-old Duchess of Sussex traveled to Australia for her Oceania tour with Prince Harry, she revealed to a royal well-wisher that she relies on early-morning yoga to help combat her jet lag/morning sickness. Namaste.
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3. Clutches Hide Cleavage
Back in the day, Princess Diana used to artfully place her clutch right above her chest when getting out cars to conceal any cleavage that might bubble out. Today, we use the same trick when tumbling out of Ubers.
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4. Hem Weights Keep Dresses From Blowing Up…most Of The Time
Showing your underpinnings while at work is hardly becoming. That’s why the women of the royal family, like Kate Middleton above, have garment weights sewn into the hems of their dresses to prevent them from blowing up. This works beautifully most of the time, except where heavy winds are concerned.
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5. Buying Shoes A Size Up Prevents Blistering
One of the most practical fashion tips? The Duchess of Sussex buys her shoes one or two sizes too big so they don’t rub against her heels and cause blisters.
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6. Bright Colors Help Keep All Eyes On You
Queen Elizabeth is often seen wearing bright colors—like pink, yellow, green and blue—during royal outings, but there’s a totally logical reason for it: The vibrant colors make her visible in a crowd. “She needs to stand out for people to be able to say, ‘I saw the queen,’” Sophie, Countess of Wessex explained in the documentary The Queen at 90.
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7. Toothbrushes Are Great For Fly-aways
In her early duchess days, Markle was all about a messy bun. But, when it comes to creating sleek updos, she looks to a handy-dandy toothbrush to smooth things out. She told Birchbox during an interview in 2014, “For my fly-aways, I spray hairspray on a small boar bristle toothbrush (a regular toothbrush also works great!) to lightly brush them down or smooth the hairline. This is especially good for a sleek bun when I am off-camera.”
*Sigh* If only the women of the royal family had a lifestyle blog we could obsess over. (RIP The Tig.)
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