Inside the royal family's careers: William and Harry's military roles and what Kate and Meghan did before joining monarchy
Many different roles over the years...The royal family is filled with a lot of individuality, with many members of the monarchy having a career before representing the throne.
It’s only expected that sometimes they each branch out into different fields.
There are even a few occasions where they go so far as to have careers away from royal life. But just what did that look like? Here we take a look at the previous and future careers of all the senior members of the royal family.
Royal family careers – King Charles III
After a 70-year heirship, King Charles III became king after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II. And while having a long wait to become monarch, he has had quite a few different ventures.
In 1970, Charles became the first ever heir to the throne to earn a university degree, after he studied archaeology, anthropology and history at the University of Cambridge.
In the 1970s, Charles began his five-year service in the military. While he was there he trained as a jet pilot and served in the Royal Air Force, before qualifying as a helicopter pilot in 1974.
From there, he joined the 845 Naval Air Squadron, where he worked aboard the HMS Hermes. But the end of his military service came in 1976 when he served as a commander on HMS Bronington.
That same year Charles started The Prince’s Trust. The inspiration for creating his own charitable foundation came from his duty in the Royal Navy. And so he set out to find a way to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth and young adults.
In the years that followed, Charles’ life was dealt with blows. After settling down with Princess Diana and their children, the couple went on to divorce not long after. Then Diana tragically died in a car crash in 1997.
In 2007, two years after Charles announced his engagement and married Camilla Parker Bowles, he established the Prince’s Rainforest Project. Its aim was to promote awareness against tropical deforestation.
Then in September 2022, Charles became the oldest heir to ever take the throne, and that’s where he remains today.
Queen Camilla’s career before joining the royal family
Before joining the royal family, it seems Queen Camilla was living the working life. But it looks like she also enjoyed a good party.
After she left school, Camilla worked as a secretary for a while. She then became a receptionist for decorators Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. But it sounds like she didn’t last too long there as they reportedly fired her after she came in late one morning after a night on the town.
Camilla went on to get married to Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, but it wasn’t long before her and Charles were having an affair.
After she and Charles got married in 2005, Camilla took on the title Duchess of Cornwall, instead of using the Princess of Wales title that was associated with Diana.
Since entering the royal family, Camilla has made sure to keep her working side on. She is now the patron of more than 90 charities, and seems to have a relationship with the public that only few royals can keep.
Her choice of patronages proves she isn’t afraid to stand out for her beliefs as she often tackles subjects that need more awareness. For example, domestic violence and sexual assault.
Just like Charles, Camilla’s title drastically changed after Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, as she became known as Queen Camilla.
All about Prince William’s career before becoming senior member of royal family
Prince William was born into the royal family, so a ‘normal’ career path isn’t something that was ever on the cards for him. But that didn’t prevent him from doing things that were close to his heart.
During a gap year from Eton school, William took part in British Army training exercises in Belize. He also spent some time working on English dairy farms and visited Africa. As part of the Raleigh International programme in Southern Chile, William also worked for 10 weeks on local construction projects. He also taught English.
When he was 21, William was appointed a Counsellor of State – an authorised royal who can stand in for the monarch. It was in 2005 when he made his first solo public engagement on an overseas tour of New Zealand.
Before he attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the prince did a three-week internship at different institutions, including the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange and Lloyd’s of London.
William’s military career
In 2006 William was admitted to Sandhurst, having decided he wanted a military career. During his time there, he had a range of different titles, including Lieutenant Wales.
Despite the queen’s approval of putting William on the frontline, after plans leaked, it was decided that it was too dangerous. Instead he trained in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. In 2009, he transferred his commission to the RAF and became Flight Lieutenant. In 2013, his active service as a RAF search-and-rescue pilot ended.
Then, in 2015, William began working full-time as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance based at Cambridge Airport and even donated his entire salary to the EAAA charity. However, in 2017 he stepped away from the role in order to assume full-time royal duties.
But that didn’t stop him from continuing his support as in February 2023 he became patron of the Wales Air Ambulance charity.
Kate Middleton’s job before she married into royal family
Before Kate Middleton started university she worked as a deckhand at the Port of Southampton. Then as she enrolled at the University of St Andrews, she studied art history. Throughout her studies she worked part-time as a waitress.
Kate was also at the time an active member of the Lumsden Club, which held fundraisers and community projects that she was a huge part of.
After she graduated, she began facing scrutiny in the press due to her relationship with William. During this time, she continued working. In 2006, she worked part-time for 12 months as an accessories buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw.
She was also a project manager in her family business, responsible for the website and catalogue.
Charity work has always been present in Kate’s life, even before she and William were together. In 2007 she did a photography exhibition to raise funds for UNICEF. She spent a lot of her time organising fundraisers for hospitals and mental health charities.
When did the Princess of Wales make her first royal engagement?
As her and William’s relationship progressed, Kate got more involved with royal duties, with her making her first official appearance in February 2011. They tied the knot in April of that year.
In 2012, she and William were announced as ambassadors for the Summer Olympics and as part of her role, she attended numerous sporting events.
Her charity work in the royal family primarily focuses on young children, mental health, sport, addiction and art.
Since December 2021, Kate has been hosting a Christmas carol concert, Together At Christmas, at Westminster Abbey for the community.
Now, as Princess of Wales, Kate continues her royal duties. Something which she had to recently step away from due to her cancer diagnosis in early 2024.
Princess Anne’s royal duties and her Olympic medals
The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne began taking on royal duties when she reached adulthood at 18.
Away from her duties, however, Anne finished fourth at the Rushall Horse Trials and at the age of 21, she won the individual title at the European Eventing Championship.
For more than five years, she continued to compete with the British eventing team. She was the first member of the royal family to compete in the Olympic Games – what an impressive career sidestep!
She also was the first member to appear as a contestant on a TV quiz show, when she competed on the BBC game panel, A Question of Sport.
Charity work is of course a huge part of Anne’s working life, as she is involved with over 200 charities in official capacity. One in particular is Save The Children, which she served as president from 1970 to 2017, when she then became a patron.
In 1981, she was elected by graduates of the University of London as Chancellor, and has been in the position since.
Now, Anne remains an integral part of the royal family, as her extensive charity work continues to make a huge difference in many lives.
She’s often been dubbed in the media and by fans as the “hardest working royal,” undertaking hundreds of engagements each year.
Prince Edward’s military career and his work on the Duke of Edinburgh award
When Prince Edward left Cambridge University in 1986, he joined the Royal Marines. However, just a few months in he dropped out of the commando course.
He then began a surprising career in the entertainment industry. And his first choice was actually theatre.
He began working as a production assistant for Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Really Useful Theatre Company, before he went on to try television production.
Edward established the Ardent Productions company, which focused on creating drama shows and documentaries. And it was one of his longest running projects. He stayed there until 2002, 11 years after it was created.
After meeting his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, he decided to focus on his royal duties. And since then he has become a patron of many charities, as well as being heavily involved in the creation of a trust alongside his wife.
Some of his patronages include the Duke of Edinburgh Award, the Paralympics GB and the Commonwealth Games Federation.
What Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, did before marrying into royal family
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, has had a number of different roles over the years. After attending college, she worked briefly in a bar. She then, like her husband, moved to a career in entertainment.
She began working as a press officer for Capital Radio, and then as a ski representative at a winter sports resort in Switzerland.
However, she moved back to London and began working for the PR company Maclaurin Communications and Media. Clearly she liked her work, as in 1996, she and her business partner, Murray Harkin, set up their own PR company, RJH.
After she and Edward married in 1999, Sophie began lessening her PR work. But after she had an incident where a reporter posed as a client to record her unknowingly, she left her career in the firm to become a full-time working member of the royal family.
She, like Edward, is also the patron of over 70 charities, and has worked alongside her husband to set up their own trust.
Prince Harry’s time in the military and tours in Afghanistan
Just like William, Prince Harry tried to have somewhat of a normal life and career in his younger years before taking up the royal family grind. During his gap year he worked on a cattle ranch in Australia, and spent time travelling to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children.
In 2005, Harry started with the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. And when he completed training, he was commissioned into the Blues and Royals within a year. And by 2008, he was a lieutenant.
Harry was also keen to serve on active duty and so when it was announced in 2007 that he was to be deployed in Iraq, there was an enormous amount of controversy and threats – leading to their decision to stop.
But in 2008 it was revealed that he had been secretly deployed in Helmand, Afghanistan as a Forward Air Controller. He then followed in his family’s footsteps and underwent RAF training. Harry attended Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury.
Then, in 2012, he went for a second tour of duty in Afghanistan. After 20 weeks of deployment, Harry returned to the UK in January 2013.
Prince Harry’s Invictus Games
Charity work was also a huge part of Harry’s life. And in 2009 he and William created their own foundation, now known as The Royal Foundation.
In 2014 Harry launched the Invictus Games for wounded servicemen and women, which has become an integral part of his legacy.
After Harry met his wife, Meghan Markle, the couple stepped back from their royal duties in 2020. They made the decision to discontinue the use of HRH and are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Despite stepping away, they are involved in a number of charities both in the UK and worldwide. And since their move to California, Harry has released a book, and done countless TV interview appearances.
Meghan Markle’s acting career and role in Suits
Before meeting Harry in 2016 and entering the royal family, Meghan Markle lived a celebrity lifestyle, and she began her acting career at Northwestern University.
While she struggled looking for acting jobs, she took up a freelance job at calligraphy and also taught bookbinding.
She began getting hired for smaller acting jobs. Alongside this, she did several modelling jobs, including a 34 episode stint as ‘Briefcase girl’ on the game show Deal or No Deal in 2006 to 2007.
In July 2011, Meghan booked her biggest role – a lead character in the TV show Suits. She remained on the show until its seventh season in 2017.
After she married Harry in 2018, she stopped her acting career to take up royal family duties. After they stepped away from the royals in 2020, Meghan’s entertainment career partially started again.
Read more: Inside the biggest royal weddings and the marriages which have ended in divorce
Meghan and Harry’s life in America since quitting royal roles
The couple made several deals with broadcast channels, including Netflix and Spotify through their audio producing company Archewell. Meghan also released her own podcast. However, it only ran for a single 12-episode run.
Meghan wrote a picture book The Bench, which reached number one in the children’s picture book category of the New York Times Best Seller List.
In March 2024, Meghan launched American Riviera Orchard, a lifestyle and cooking brand. Then one month later, it was announced that Netflix has teamed up with their production company to produce two new shows.
Her latest venture, With Love, Meghan, is a cooking and home show on Netflix. The streaming giant launched the trailer for the upcoming show in early 2025.
Aside from entertainment, Meghan has always been big on charity work. In 2014, she became a counsellor for the international network One Young World.
When Meghan met Harry, she then went on to partner with numerous different charities. Something which she still continues today.
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