Some of the world’s most renowned faces started off just like us, that is, before they met their royal love and married into monarchs!

We’ve gone back in time to discover what the Duchess of Cambridge, Duchess of Sussex, Duchess of Cornwall, and others were up to before finding their Prince or Princess and having their fairytale weddings.

The Duchess of Cambridge

Kate Middleton, who married Prince William in 2011, is known for being a caring mother to three children while juggling a demanding work schedule as a senior member of the British royal family. However, the Duchess used to work a regular 9 to 5 job.

Kate began her career as an accessories buyer for the British apparel retailer Jigsaw after working for her parents’ very successful party supply firm. The public attention that came with being the fiancée of Britain’s future King, however, became too much for Kate, and she quit her position in 2006.

The Duchess of Sussex

Meghan Markle got her bachelor’s degree in theater and international studies from Northwestern University in 2003. Her role on the TV show Suits from 2011 to 2018 may have made her famous, but she had been in Hollywood for years before she got her big break.

During her acting career, she appeared as a suitcase model on Deal or No Deal and also had roles in 90210, Without a Trace, Castle, and Horrible Bosses. In 2016, she became a Global Ambassador for World Vision Canada. Before that, she ran her own lifestyle site called The Tig, which she shut down after the news spread about her relationship with Prince Harry, whom she is now married to.

The couple married in a beautiful ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2018 and have two children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one. The Sussexes are residents of Santa Barbara, California.

The Duchess of Cornwall

Camilla attended Dumbbells School in Sussex before moving on to Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington. She went to Switzerland to finish school at Mon Fertile. When she was done, she went to Paris to study French and French literature at the Institut Britannique.

After finishing her studies, Camilla worked as a secretary for a number of enterprises in London’s West End, and later as a receptionist for the decorating firm Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler in Mayfair.

Camilla married Prince Charles in a civil wedding at Windsor Guildhall in April 2005, becoming the Duchess of Cornwall.