Meghan Markle allegedly had to undergo a fertility test before marrying Prince Harry

For many girls, fantasising about being a princess is a veritable right of passage right up there next to Barbie dolls and all the other effluvia of girlhood. However, once we grow up, the majority of us swap out dreams of the crown jewels for aspirations that are far more attainable. Certainly, while diamonds are dazzling, and the whole notion of being a member of the royal family is endlessly beguiling, it has become apparent that being a royal is a job, just like any other.

Last month's nuptials between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry naturally opened up this debate once more. And now that the newly appointed Duke and Duchess of Sussex have returned from their honeymoon, it's evident that the real work is beginning for the erstwhile Suits actress, or perhaps it has already begun: Meghan allegedly had to undergo fertility testing before Kensington Palace signed off on her marriage to Prince Harry.

While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made it clear that they're all for breaking protocol, when it comes to procuring an heir to the throne, the royal family do not mess around.

The newlyweds have been open about the fact that they want to have children, but we have reason to believe that this decision - which is highly personal, and should only concern the happy couple - was part of a bigger conversation that the pair had with the palace prior to their nuptials.

There have been some tedious, and decidedly sexist and ageist rumours making the rounds that Meghan had to undergo a fertility test before she was allowed to marry Prince Harry. And although they're likely conjecture - given that it's pretty intimate, and that fertility testing is a relatively modern technology that wouldn't date back to ye old royal precedent - we also know that the royal family like getting all up close and personal when it comes to marrying off their Princes.

According to an E! report published in 2011, inside sources have claimed that Kensington Palace went as far as to test Princess Diana's virginity when she married Prince Charles in 1981.

Back in 1993, the Daily Mail asserted "[Charles'] fiancée, Lady Diana Spencer, was the girl next door. Their families had known each other all their lives and for generations past. She had been vetted, guaranteed immaculate by the admirable Mr Pinker, surgeon-gynaecologist to the Queen; she was the very definition of the word 'innocent.'"

And then in 1996, the Chicago Tribute corroborated: "That the royal gynaecologist certified Diana as a 20-year-old virgin bride merely added to her mystique—and her novelty."

Although we can't deny that a lot has changed in the palace in recent years - I mean, Meghan Markle is not only American, but most likely the British royal family's first biracial member - it remains to be seen whether the monarchy will intervene when it comes to one of her most basic rights as a woman: her reproductive organs, and what she chooses to do with them.