Hardworking royals and their unexpected day jobs

There’s nothing normal about royalty but royals with day jobs arguably experience at least a degree of normality. This being said, you won’t find too many regal types teaching in schools or nursing in hospitals. No, royals prefer the sort of work that comes with rather more glamour, mystique or money attached.

From royals who are models to a royal who worked in Formula One, royal entrepreneurs to a royal you didn’t realise was a yoga instructor, read on and discover the blue bloods singing heigh ho, it’s off to work we go (occasionally)…

The daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York are not working members of the royal family, despite being well-known for their philanthropy as patrons of several charities.

As a result, neither receive a formal salary from the royal family, so both princesses have day jobs.

Princess Beatrice works at a technology firm called Afiniti, where she is vice president of partnerships and strategy. She previously worked in a venture capital firm called Sandbridge.

Her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, has chosen a more creative route for her career at an art gallery in Mayfair, where she is director.

While the Dutch royal is the younger brother of the reigning monarch of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander, he leads an ordinary working life as an independent adviser on corporate innovation. 

He co-founded Startup Fest Europe, as well as being director of digital technology and macro strategy at a firm in London.

Despite being the eldest child of King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, Princess Märtha Louise is not first in line to the throne, nor is she a working royal. A constitutional amendment allowing firstborn children to succeed to the throne regardless of gender was passed years after her birth. Princess Märtha Louise’s brother, Crown Prince Haakon, is first in line to the throne while she is fourth. The princess, who recently married American shaman Durek Verrett, also stepped back from royal duties officially in 2022.

When it comes to work, Princess Märtha Louise has had a varied career, including founding  an ‘angel school’ (an alternative therapy centre which taught students how to speak to angels), reading Norwegian fairy tales for television, publishing books, launching a YouTube channel, and partnering with brands on beauty and clothing.

The Queen’s great-nephews have pursued very different career paths. According to his Instagram, Samuel, 28, is “a British artist and maker currently working in clay to create functional and sculptural wood-fired ceramics” from his home and studio in West Sussex. He is also a trained yoga teacher, having spent 200 hours qualifying in India in 2018.

His younger brother Arthur, 25, worked as a personal trainer and continued along the physical route when he joined the Royal Marines for a 32-week training programme in 2021.

It seems there is nothing that the granddaughter of Grace Kelly and Rainer II, Prince of Monaco, can’t do. 

Charlotte, 38, has worked as a competitive showjumper; co-founded and edited the Ever Manifesto, a magazine criticising the impact of fashion on the environment; and modelled for Gucci, Montblanc and Saint Laurent. Having studied philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, Charlotte also founded a think tank, Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco, and co-wrote a book on the academic discipline.

Not content with this hefty catalogue, she is an ambassador for the House of Chanel, and has organised literary salons where female creatives can share and discuss their work and philosophy.

The sixth-in-line to the throne of Belgium, Prince Amedeo has led a corporate career mostly away from royal life. He began as a business analyst at Deloitte in New York City, then changed roles to management consultant. After a brief stint in capital management, he studied for an MBA at Columbia University.

Returning to Belgium, he worked for McKinsey & Company before taking on his current role at a private bank, where his father is a partner.

A friend of Princess Kate, Rose has had a varied career, working first as a model when she was signed by agency Storm aged 23, the same agency which signed models like Kate Moss and Monica Bellucci.

She also worked as a parliamentary researcher for Conservative politician Michael Gove, before resigning prior to the birth of her twin sons.

Rose married David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, who inherited a £112 million estate in 1990, including Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire. Rose now works to manage the extensive estate, including the family home of Houghton Hall in Norfolk, just over three miles away from Kate and William’s country home Anmer Hall.

Speaking to English Home about the management of the estate, Rose said: “My husband has a great deal of knowledge. And we have a fantastic team which is absolutely instrumental in keeping everything going. It’s an endless project – there are always things to conserve, preserve and restore. We have lots of specialists who come to advise. You get to meet a lot of experts and learn so much over the years.”

The 25-year-old Danish royal was born with both a title and good looks, having worked as a model for brands like Burberry and Dior, even opening their Dior Homme A/W 2020 show.

He explained to sister publication Hola that he sees modelling as a means to an end rather than a career, saying: “I do not want a career as a model. I’d rather look at it as a job which can help me along the way while educating me.”

As the grandson of Queen Margarethe II, Nikolai was stripped of the title of ‘Prince’ in an effort to slim down the Danish monarchy. Nikolai’s father, Prince Joachim has made it clear that it is his son’s right to choose if he would like to be involved in official duties.

The Queen’s eldest grandchild currently works as head of partner acquisition for sports rights holders, CSM Sport & Entertainment. He used to work as the managing director of SEL UK and has been involved with various other companies in the past, including Jaguar Racing, Williams F1, and the Festival of British Eventing.

The company’s website states: “In June 2012, Peter teamed up with long-term friend and mentor James Erskine to set up Sports & Entertainment UK Ltd in London. The focus of the business has been to increase the commercial value for both sports and entertainment rights holders in the UK, whilst delivering world class events to London.”

Having won a silver medal for Great Britain at the Olympics, Zara has not strayed far from her equestrian roots in her professional role as a director at Cheltenham Race Course.

Her husband, Mike, was a professional rugby player for 17 years. He also coached the sport for a while, and has a podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby, alongside friends James Haskell and Alex Payne.

The dad-of-three is also a director of professional services automation provider Kimble Trading.

Born Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, Princess Michael is married to King George’s grandson, and has numerous strings to her bow. The princess has published multiple books, including historical fiction, and has also opened her own interior design company, Szapar Designs. Completing the set, she  lectures about historical events and speaks at literary festivals.

The Greek royal and wife of Crown Prince Pavlos is entrepreneurial, having founded a luxury children’s clothing brand. She has also written a book about teaching table manners to children.

“It all started when I was pregnant with my third child and son, Achileas. I had wanted to work for a while and had been putting together ideas on starting a children’s line. When my son was born he had the most amazing head of silver streaked hair, he looked like a little angel and within a few weeks we had the MC Angel wing designed,” she explained to My World in an interview.

The 2nd Earl of Snowdon is the son of Princess Margaret and photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones. He shares his father’s artistic streak, having founded his own furniture company, Linley, which has clients including Elton John and Valentino. He has also written several interior design books, and served as chairman of Christie’s.

The three nieces of the late Princess Diana – Ladies Kitty, Eliza and Amelia Spencer – prove that good genes very much run in the family.

Lady Kitty has enjoyed a prolific modelling career, working for Tatler and appearing on the covers of Vogue Japan, Elle Russia and Marie Claire Spain, as well as being a brand ambassador for Bulgari and Dolce & Gabbana.

Both Eliza and Amelia are signed with Storm Models, but Amelia works as a wedding planner, too, and is a brand ambassador for Chopard and Michael Kors. Eliza has modelled for Dior, Versace, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors and Chaumet.

While the second son of Queen Margarethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark had aspirations, aged 8, to become a ‘gentleman farmer’, his career to date has been more militaristic than agricultural, with the prince, 55, working in the army reserves alongside his royal duties.

He began a new job in September this year, working as Defence Industry Attaché at the Danish Embassy in Washington DC, to “help strengthen Denmark’s defence industrial cooperation with the United States and Canada in the coming years”.

The couple’s infamous departure to the US saw them forfeiting the right to a royal salary. However, neither of the pair were ‘real world’ ingenues.  Meghan was of course an actress, starring in legal drama Suits, and Prince Harry was in the military, completing two tours of Afghanistan.

After departing the British royal bosom, Prince Harry has joined the career, life coaching and mental health startup, BetterUp, as chief impact officer, and Aspen Institute’s new Commission on Information Disorder as a commissioner.

At the time, he said: “The experience of today’s digital world has inundated us with an avalanche of misinformation, affecting our ability as individuals as well as societies to think clearly and truly understand the world we live in. It’s my belief that this is a humanitarian issue and as such, it demands a multi-stakeholder response from advocacy voices, members of the media, academic researchers, and both government and civil society leaders. I’m eager to join this new Aspen commission and look forward to working on a solution-oriented approach to the information disorder crisis.”

The royal couple also run Archewell, which has both for-profit and nonprofit branches.

There are few royals with quite such a diverse entrepreneurial portfolio as Duchess Sarah. Since her 1996 divorce from Prince Andrew, the Duchess has released children’s books, Mills & Boon novels, two diet books and an autobiography. 

Away from the literary world, she co-produced the 2009 film The Young Victoria, has signed a series of commercial deals, and has launched a range of flavoured teas.

No content, the mum-of-two has even voiced a queen in an animated film, made several documentaries, and starred in a reality TV series about her life, which was accompanied by another book.

In line with her history as an author, Sarah also partnered with a brand to launch fountain pens, priced at £1,742, made with 18 carat gold nibs.

Her latest business venture involves digital art sold as NFTs.

While working royals rarely have ‘normal’ jobs, most have experienced working life. Prince William was a helicopter pilot, Princess Charlene of Monaco was a professional swimmer and Queen Mary of Denmark was an account manager and teacher.

Prince Edward also dabbled in film, setting up a production company, Ardent Productions, in 1993. While the company made documentaries and films, it reported losses every year it operated, with the exception of one.

In 2002, he announced that he was stepping down as director in order to support his mother in royal duties.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands worked as a pilot, and the late Princess Diana was a nursery teacher’s assistant, a nanny, a house cleaner and a dance instructor before she married the heir to the British throne. Even Princess Kate was an accessories buyer for Jigsaw, aged 24, and worked for her parents’ business Party Pieces, proving no role is too big or small for the UK’s future queen.