Before she could walk down the aisle with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle [1] had to receive the royal seal of approval [2] from the queen herself. Luckily for her, she had one less rule to follow: the virginity rule. The UK royal bride's virginity rule suggested that women had to be virgins before marrying a royal, which was the case when Princess Diana married Prince Charles [3] in 1981. Before Diana could marry Charles, Diana's family had to confirm [4] she was indeed a virgin. In fact, according to Tina Brown's biography The Diana Chronicles, Queen Elizabeth II specifically chose Diana for her son because she was "irresistibly innocent" and had no ex-boyfriends to sell their steamy stories to the tabloids. Oh, how the times have changed.
While there is no fixed rule that states a royal bride has to be a virgin, there is a code of behavior [6] that has since evolved. Today, royals are encouraged to live their own lives without carrying such a heavy weight of society's expectations, and like many modern couples, Prince William and Kate Middleton even lived together before they got married — as have Harry and Meghan [7].