Prince William and Kate Middleton are the parents of three adorable children: Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte, 3, and their newborn Prince Louis. Now, a revelation has been made about their little family that has the entire world feeling very surprised.

Thanks to a 300 year-old rule, William and Kate do not actually have custody of their own children!

“The sovereign has legal custody of the minor grandchildren,” explained royal historian Marlene Koenig. “This goes back to King George I [who ruled in the early 1700s], and the law’s never been changed. He did it because he had a very poor relationship with his son, the future King George II, so they had this law passed that meant the King was the guardian of his grandchildren.”

The law was passed in 1717 and legislated again in 1772, and no changes have been made to it since then. The original text of this law clearly says that the monarch is in charge of the grandchildren’s “education and the care,” “ordering the place of their abode,” “appointing their governors and governesses,” and “the care and approbation of their marriages.”

This means that when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have children, they will not have custody of them either. The public was able to see the law in action when William and Harry were children, as their father Prince Charles would have to ask her Majesty for permission to fly them out to Scotland with him.

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