- Meghan Markle is becoming a British citizen to marry Prince Harry.
- It involves more than just signing papers – she has to take a test.
- It can include esoteric trivia on British life – and you can try some questions below.
Since Prince Harry got down on one knee over a chicken dinner and asked Meghan Markle to be his wife, Great Britain has learned a whole lot about her.
But it turns out that before she can take her place in the royal family, she has to learn a lot about Britain too – in the form of an official written test on Britishness.
When announcing the details of the wedding on Tuesday night, Kensington Palace revealed that Markle, an American, will become a British citizen before the ceremony.
One step towards doing that – even if you’re marrying a prince – is sitting the Life in the UK exam, required by the UK Home Office to become part of the nation.
Applicants have to take the test in official test centres around the UK, and it costs £50 ($67).
There's one in Hammersmith, west London, a few tube stops away from Markle's future home in the grounds of Kensington Palace. There's another in Slough, a few miles from her wedding venue in Windsor.
The test has 24 multiple-choice questions. The pass mark is 75%.
It's sat on a computer, and lasts 45 minutes. If Markle is feeling nervous beforehand she can do a mini practice paper of four questions before starting the real thing.
Luckily, if Markle doesn't hit the pass mark first time, she can do as many re-takes as she likes.
Business Insider tracked down a copy of the official practice questions guide to get a sense of what Markle might face. Here's a selection (the answers are at the end):
Some are easy political questions:
1) What happened to Margaret Thatcher in 1979 to make her famous in UK history?
A) She took part in the Olympics.
B) She became a High Court judge.
C) She became the first woman Prime Minister.
D) She was made a general in the British Army.
Some are about fiddly points of geography:
2) Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE?
St Helena is a Crown dependency.
Old-school literature:
3) What are "Beowulf," "The Tyger," and "She Walks in Beauty?"
A) Plays
B) Films
C) Poems
D) Novels
Or sport:
4) Which of the following statements is correct?
A) There is a yearly sailing race on the River Thames between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
B) There is a yearly rowing race on the River Thames between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Or the legal system:
5) Which court would you use to get money back that was owed to you?
A) County Court
B) Magistrates' Court
C) Youth Court
D) Coroner's Court
Some, she really ought to get right, or it'll be awkward at the dinner table:
6) Which jubilee did Queen Elizabeth II celebrate in 2012?
A) Platinum Jubilee
B) Diamond Jubilee
C) Silver Jubilee
D) Golden Jubilee
Answers
1) C - Thatcher was the first British woman Prime Minister. The first female High Court judge, Elizabeth Lane, sat in 1965. Women have been Olympians since 1900. Susan Ridge became the British Army's first female general in 2015.
2) False - St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean, is a "British Oversea Territory," and has a slightly different relationship with the UK to "Crown dependencies" like the Isle of Man.
3) C - Although you'd be hard-pressed to find many Brits who have read all three of these.
4) B - But since most people refer to this as "the boat race" it could be easy to get confused.
5) A - County Courts deal with civil matters like money. Magistrates' and youth courts deal with crimes, and coroners, investigate deaths. Plenty of Brits would get confused by these.
6) B - Elizabeth II, soon to be Markle's grandmother-in-law, had her last major landmark when she celebrated 60 years on the throne in 2012. Next up is her Platinum Jubilee in 2022, should she live to be 95.