15 Surprisingly Frugal Habits Of The British Royal Family

6. Cooking for themselves

Live-in chefs aren’t the norm for every royal. Kate Middleton reportedly does most of the cooking for her family, including making Prince William’s favorite dinner: roast chicken. Prince Harry has also been spotted doing his own grocery shopping. Wonder what might be in their shopping carts?

7. Giving silly gifts

To the family who has everything, gifts aren’t about trying to outdo each other, so they give joke gifts instead. This year, Meghan Markle reportedly gave Queen Elizabeth a singing hamster that made her future grandmother-in-law laugh out loud.

8. Flying economy

While Queen Elizabeth won’t take commercial flights, her grandchildren have been spotted on them. Prince William was spotted flying coach on an American Airlines flight from Memphis to Dallas in 2014, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle traveled economy on British Airways to ring in the 2018 New Year in Nice.

9. Cutting electricity costs

With an estimated 40,000 lights in Buckingham Palace, electricity bills add up fast. That’s why in 2011, Queen Elizabeth posted signs around the building, ordering palace staff to turn lights off when they aren’t using them, according to Financial Times. Her Majesty was so serious about the initiative that she would walk through palace halls switching off lights, an employee revealed at the time.

10. Wearing hand-me-downs

Sure, Prince George and Princess Charlotte could afford to wear new, stylish clothing all the time—but William and Kate have other plans for their kids. Princess Charlotte has been spotted wearing shoes her uncle Prince Harry wore more than 30 years before when he was two. Meanwhile, Prince George has worn an outfit that his dad had originally worn to Prince Harry’s christening back in 1984. Some things never go out of style.