Like Any Younger Sibling, Prince Harry Gets Away With More Than Prince William

Prince Harry is allowed to have a beard.

There was a whole national tizzy when Harry brought out his beard to the Remembrance Day parade, with reports that he's breaking military protocol. Since Harry's no longer serving, the beard is not actually a big deal…to the armed forces. To his grandmother however, the facial hair is definitely frowned upon. She pushed Harry to shave back in 2014, but in round two, he's gotten very stubborn about being stubbly. And that must be pushing the Queen's buttons.

Back in 2014, a royal insider shared the details on Elizabeth II's true feelings on the beard. "She doesn’t mind royal men growing beards when they are away in the armed forces or out in the wilds, like Harry was in the Antarctic, but she expects them to be clean-shaven when they get home," they shared. "Royal staff are not supposed to grow beards or mustaches, and she probably thinks it is difficult to enforce that rule when her own grandson has a beard."

And yet the beard has sat firmly on Harry's face. Imagine if William tried to pull off the same thing! He'd never get away with it.

Harry is allowed to be more touchy-feely with Meghan.

There isn't a specific rule stating that PDA is off-limits to royals, but there is a reason why Harry and Meghan can hold hands and Kate and William can't. And it does tie into to Prince Harry being the second-born. Because Will and Kate are spending more time in the public eye and William is second in line for the thrown, it's good form for him and his wife to stay stoic and proper. Harry, by contrast, is fifth in line for the throne (sixth after royal baby three arrives) and it matters not if he wants to give his girlfriend a smooch.

Harry was allowed to bring Meghan to Christmas at Sandringham.

This, personally, would set us off if we were Kate Middleton. Meghan was allowed to be in attendance at the royal family's Christmas in Sandringham House even though the Queen has strict rules about the holiday being a family-only event. In fact, Kate wasn't allowed to come up for Christmas festivities in 2010, even though she at least "fianceé" status at the time. The Queen was very adamant about those "no ring, no bring" thing…when it came to William, at least.

And Harry was allowed to skip out on Easter.

Yup, Harry and Meghan were notably missing when it came to Easter services at St. George’s Chapel. Why? Hello! insinuated that "the lovebirds were most likely enjoying some downtime out of the public eye." That's right, Harry was allowed to go on vacay with Meghan instead of getting all dapper for Easter Sunday. William would never.

Prince Harry is allowed to pet dogs.

Ok, this one might be a bit of a stretch, because we're sure William is allowed to pet dogs, too. If not, Lupo must live a sad existence. But in 2015, Harry detached from his bodyguards in order to pet a pup who won Britain's Got Talent, which is…not recommended, apparently. "Prince Harry was very sweet and lovely," Jules O’Dwyer, the dog’s owner said. "He said he doesn’t have a dog himself but he loved Matisse." Well, give it a matter of time, because Harry seems to get everything he wants.

Harry gets to have a delicious/pretentious lemon elderflower cake at his wedding.

Yes, lemon elderflower, our jaws dropped open too. This is a big deal because there is, in fact, a customary wedding cake that has been served since the Victorian age. And get this: it's fruitcake. Blech! Apparently fruitcake has been the traditional wedding cake for more than a century because it was a symbol of "wealth and prosperity" in British culture. Of course, it's more globally known for being a huge lump of disappointment during the holiday seasons.

So imagine how annoyed you would be if you're Prince William, you're forced to compromise with a eight-layer fruitcake-filled wedding dessert, and your brother gets to have lemon elderflower.

Harry was allowed to defend Meghan Markle.

Well, to be more specific, the royal family released a statement begging the public to essentially leave him and Meghan alone, which is not the norm. "Since he was young, Prince Harry has been very aware of the warmth that has been extended to him by members of the public," the statement read. "He is also aware that there is significant curiosity about his private life. He has never been comfortable with this, but he has tried to develop a thick skin about the level of media interest that comes with it. He has rarely taken formal action on the very regular publication of fictional stories that are written about him, and he has worked hard to develop a professional relationship with the media, focused on his work and the issues he cares about."

Now, to be clear, the statement was entirely justified. Meghan has seen next-level slander and a violation of privacy that extends to racial slurs and breaking-and-entering. But overall, the royals don't necessarily comment on their private lives, and they sure don't ask the public to straight up leave them alone. Normally, their love interests (like old "Waity Katie") are left to the wolves.

The fact the Harry is allowed to marry Meghan Markle at all is pretty much unheard of.

William sort of stepped out of the mold by marrying commoner Kate, but lest we forget, Kate was also British and technically a millionaire. Meghan is pulling a real Grace Kelly move by being an American actress. But the fact that she's a divorcée is really what makes it unprecedented. In fact, back in the day, Meghan having been married already would be grounds for Harry to get kicked out of succession. But in a post-Camilla and pro-Harry world, this isn't the case.

Harry is allowed to have his wedding on a weekend.

Yes, even Harry and Meghan's wedding date is controversial. It's not particularly law that a royal wedding has to take place on a weekday, but it is (wait for it) tradition. If you'll recall, Will and Kate got married on a Friday (we remember because we turned up to work completely exhausted). Harry, however, is planning his wedding for May 19, 2018, a Saturday.

Harry gets to have William as his best man at his wed — oh wait.

Yes, Harry naming William as his best man does break royal protocol; typically royals are only allowed to have "supporters." But William was, in fact, the first to get away with this rule by naming Harry his best man in 2011. Turns out that no matter how much Harry gets away with, the two brothers still love each other.

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