These days, one wouldn't expect to never see one's former family again after getting married. But for someone like Kate Middleton, who comes from a tight-knit family, it seems absurd to even suggest it.

But, as with everything else, being royalty comes with strange and archaic unwritten rules. Thankfully, Prince William knew that arrangement would not work for his longtime sweetheart, and he promised her that she could remain close to the Middletons after their marriage.

"When you marry into the royal family, you become a Windsor and that's it," royal expert Katie Nicole said in the documentary "Kate Middleton: Working Class to Windsor" (from the Mirror). Katie Nichol stated. When William asked Kate to marry him, he made it clear that Kate would not have to leave her family behind once she married into his family."

"He promised her that she would remain a part of the family, and she did.

"Whether joining the Queen at Ascot or on the important barge of the Queen's fleet at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, they were there."

This seems like a pretty good thing, considering how much of a life change becoming royalty already entails. One can imagine how emotionally painful, not to mention totally unnecessary, it would have been if the Duchess had had to forgo her family as well.

The Sussexes also somewhat mirrored this arrangement: Meghan Markle's mother, Doria Ragland, often attended royal family gatherings while they were active royalty.