Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are modern royals - and their lives couldn't be more different from Queen Elizabeth's at their age

WPA Pool / Pool / Getty Images

Being a member of British royalty is a job that's changed a lot over time.

• Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are both 36 years old. Queen Elizabeth II was 36 in 1963.
• Queen Elizabeth's life then looked a lot different than Middleton's and Markle's lives look today.
• For example, Markle and fiancé Prince Harry don't yet have kids - Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were already married for 15 years and expecting their fourth child.

Being a member of the British royal family today is a drastically different job than it was half a century ago.

Across the globe, people look at Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, both 36 years old, as the picture of elegance. People saw Queen Elizabeth II the same way in 1963, when she was 36 - but her lifestyle was rather more traditional. She'd been married for years, sported white gloves and pearls ... and definitely didn't use Instagram.

Below, we highlighted the starkest contrasts between Middleton's and Markle's lives today and Queen Elizabeth's when she was their age.