Growing up during the Great Depression and the Second World War left Queen Elizabeth II with a "make do and mend" attitude. Whether it's taking the train, re-wearing an outfit or turning off the central heating, Her Majesty shows that it's possible to be thrifty and still live like a queen. And it's an approach that she has passed down to her family. Click or scroll through to discover ways the British royals follow her lead.

The Queen's thriftiness is in line with that of her father, George VI (pictured left), who became king just three years before the outbreak of the Second World War. The king, who remained at Buckingham Palace throughout, had black lines painted into the royal baths so no-one could use more than their allocated five inches of hot water in a bid to support the war effort. 

Home cooking is always more economical than eating out and some members of the royal family are said to be keen cooks. Kate was regularly spotted in the local supermarket when she and Prince William (pictured helping out in a kitchen) lived in Wales and the late Prince Philip was sometimes seen barbecuing in Balmoral. Prince Harry even proposed to Meghan Markle while roasting a chicken during a cosy night in at their cottage.

The Queen's favourite summer retreat is Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. The castle was built in 1856 and is privately owned by the royal family, unlike Buckingham Palace, and any damage to the walls is patched up with wallpaper left over from Queen Victoria's era. After all, why spend more money on wallpaper when you've got some bought by your great-great-granny? 

While Kate is often praised for recycling outfits, it's worth noting that her grandmother-in-law has been doing it for decades. The Queen even recycled the Angela Kelly crepe wool primrose dress she wore to William and Kate's wedding, during a visit to Australia some six months later – something particularly impressive if you consider it was 30ºC in Canberra.

The Queen's style was dubbed 'credit crunch couture' when it was announced she would be wearing a dress made from decades-old fabric for a state banquet in Slovenia during the 2008 financial crisis. The gold, silver and grey brocade was given to the Queen during a Middle Eastern tour and had lain in storage for more than 20 years, prior to being made into a formal evening gown.

Buckingham Palace has some 40,000 light bulbs which, in 2011, made for a somewhat hefty electricity bill of £2.2 million ($3.6m). Signs put up around the building that year warned: “The attention is drawn of all members of staff to the need to switch off unwanted lights. By Order of The Master of The Household.” The Queen was known to walk through the palace turning them off herself.

The Queen is also thrifty during the most wasteful of seasons, Christmas. After gifts are opened on 24 December, in line with the family's German roots, she carefully collects up the leftover wrapping paper and ribbons to save for another year, according to biographer Kate Williams. Parcel string is also saved to be used again. 

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While a decadent dish like eggs royale may appear a more fitting breakfast for any monarch, the Queen herself prefers a simple bowl of cereal or porridge oats. Ever the spendthrift, she also demands that these are kept in airtight plastic containers to make them last longer. And in 2012, a former royal chef revealed she once sent back a lemon used as a garnish, saying the kitchen could use it again.

You'd think he had a new suit for each occasion, but it turns out that Prince Charles is as happy to 'make do and mend' as his mother. Apparently his tailors Anderson & Sheppard keeps a box of leftover material for every item they've made him. The grey suit he wore to Harry and Meghan's wedding (pictured) in 2018 is thought to date back to 1984.

Both Kate and Meghan are used to being dressed by high-end designers, but they are also known for championing high street brands. Kate is known to be a particular fan of Zara clothing like this £39.99 ($55) summer dress, which she wore to a charity polo match in Gloucestershire in summer 2018. She was even said to have worn a floral dress made by the brand to her sister Pippa's wedding reception in 2017.

The Queen may not generally fly on commercial airlines but her grandchildren do, particularly for personal visits. The royal family are entitled to a private jet if travelling on state business but otherwise need to use regular airlines like the rest of us. Princes William and Harry were spotted flying on budget carrier Flybe after attending their cousin Zara's wedding in Edinburgh in 2011, the airline William and Kate also used in 2019 when travelling to Aberdeen with their children to join the Queen and her late husband Prince Philip at her Balmoral estate.

Despite her sons being heir to the throne, Princess Diana always wanted William and Harry to have as normal a life as possible while they were growing up. One of their most important weekend rituals as children was popping out to McDonald's for a Big Mac and fries on a Saturday night, according to her former butler Paul Burrell. They'd then head home and watch former UK TV dating show Blind Date. 

Princess Anne is perhaps even more frugal than the rest of the British royal family, with one UK newspaper reporting she owned clothes that were older than her children. This particular dress, sported at Royal Ascot in 2014, was first worn to the same event in 1988, seen at a wedding in 1992, worn again at Ascot in 1994 and then wheeled out for a VE day commemoration in 1995.

Kate famously did her own make-up for her wedding, although she did take some lessons from a pro first. Make-up artist Arabella Preston reportedly made several trips to Clarence House ahead of the wedding, so the Duchess of Cambridge was confident enough to do it herself for the big day. She was also rumoured to have disliked the make-up for her official engagement shoot, eventually rubbing it off and doing it herself.

Tradition dictates that all the staff at Buckingham Palace receive a Christmas pudding each year – but in 2017 luxury store Harrods was shunned for a supermarket alternative, namely from Tesco. An £8 ($11.10) Christmas pudding from their Finest range was distributed to each of the 1,500-strong team of staff, alongside a card from the Queen and the late Prince Philip thanking them for their service, according to a British newspaper.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly for a family which has everything, they tend to resort to jokey Christmas gifts. The Queen likes a giggle and before Harry and Meghan moved to America Meghan is rumoured to have given the Queen a singing hamster in 2017, which was a massive hit with her pet corgis. And Charles's favourite-ever gift was reportedly a white leather toilet seat from his sister Anne.

The Queen has always looked for ways to save money, even when her own children were young. So when Edward, her fourth child, came along he was made to play with the same toys as his older siblings – Charles, Anne and Andrew. He was also made to sleep in the same cream-coloured cot that his brothers and sister had used, according to newspaper sources.

There's a lot of waving and shaking hands to do if you're the head of state, so it's essential that your manicure's perfect. The Queen sticks to what she knows and always wears the same pale shade of pink – Essie's Ballet Slippers – which costs a bargain £7.99 ($9). Kate is also said to have chosen that particular polish to wear for her wedding. And if it's good enough for them...

Back in 2010, Prince Charles started to host drinks parties instead of lavish dinners in an attempt to cut back on entertaining. His private secretary, Michael Peat, said that the royal household was "always keeping an eye on the economic climate", adding: "We do live in the real world – for the most part anyhow." And it worked. In the 2009/10 fiscal year, Charles's entertaining bill dropped from about £800,000 ($1.2m) to £380,000 ($566k) despite hosting 9,400 people at his residence, Clarence House. 

The late Queen Mother also spent her summer holidays in the Scottish Highlands, at the Castle of Mey in Caithness. She bought the near-derelict castle in 1952 to convert it into a holiday home, connecting it to mains water and electricity for the first time. The Queen Mother used to rent a TV and video player during the months she stayed, although an aide described the latter as a "poison chalice" as it often failed to record the horse racing.

Meghan made her public debut as Harry's girlfriend at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto and later upped her down-to-earth credentials by being spotted with what appeared to be a takeaway. The one-time actress was photographed getting out of a car carrying a plastic bag full of leftovers the following day, although one newspaper noted that she was wearing £495 ($686) pair of pointy-toe Sarah Flint pumps at the time. 

Eagle-eyed royal watchers were quick to spot that the red patent shoes that Princess Charlotte wore during 2017's official visit to Poland once belonged to her uncle. Prince Harry was first spotted wearing them in 1986, in photos taken while he was playing in the garden of Highgrove House and in a portrait taken at Kensington Palace.

Prince George has also been dressed in some of the outfits his father wore as a child. He watched the 2016 Trooping the Colour flypast wearing the same outfit William wore to his brother Harry's christening in 1984. It came a year after George made his palace balcony debut wearing the same blue romper suit his father wore for Her Majesty's Birthday Parade flypast, also in 1984.

Buckingham Palace is notoriously draughty but the frugal Queen is apparently not too keen on central heating. So instead she plumps for a small student-style electric heater to provide her guests with a warm welcome. Look closely and you can spot it in the fireplace when she met Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, during a private audience. 

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When Prince Louis was christened in 2018, he was wearing a replica of the royal christening gown which was in danger of falling apart. The original was commissioned by Queen Victoria for the birth of her first child, Princess Victoria, in 1841. But after being worn by 62 royal babies over the years, the Queen commissioned her senior dresser, Angela Kelly, to make an exact replica in 2008. James, Viscount Severn, was the first to wear the new one and all royal babies have done so since.

Princess Anne's famed frugality also extends to her travels. The Princess Royal once turned down a room with a sea view at a hotel on the Scottish island of Oban, in order to save £40 ($55). Her thriftiness has rubbed off on her husband Sir Tim Laurence too. Back in 2013 he popped into a pub in the East Yorkshire seaside town of Bridlington for fish and chips and the entire bill, for 10 people and including drinks, came to a mere £51 ($77) in total.

When the Queen married Prince Philip in 1947, rationing was still in place after the Second World War. So the then-Princess Elizabeth used clothing ration coupons to pay for her wedding dress, designed by Sir Norman Hartnell. Hundreds of people from across the country apparently sent in their own coupons to help with her outfit, but they had to be returned as it would have been illegal to use them. 

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Sophie, Countess of Wessex, was spotted putting a £2 ($2.75) bet on four different horses on the second day of 2018's Royal Ascot event. The low wager was probably a good thing as none of her horses crossed the finish line in first place. But it clearly didn't ruin her day, and she looked like she was enjoying herself throughout. 

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It may come as a bit of a surprise for commuters, but the Queen is known for travelling by train when she heads to and from the Sandringham Estate for Christmas. In 2017's festive season, she caught the train from London King's Cross to King's Lynn in December, then travelled back again in early February. Assuming she had a Senior Railcard, her ticket would have cost a mere £38.74 ($47.70). 

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If you’ve ever wondered why the Queen is always spotted wearing gloves, there’s actually a very practical reason – to protect her from germs when shaking hands with the public. According to royal glove-maker Genevieve Lawson, the Queen orders new gloves every 18 months or so, but also sends old pairs back for minor repairs like restitching the seams. In fact, the thrifty Queen reportedly still owns pairs of gloves that are 40 years old! 

Picking out the perfect Christmas gift must be stressful when your grandmother-in-law is the Queen, but Kate Middleton appears to have hit the nail on the head when she gave the Queen homemade chutney in 2011. According to a royal expert, the modest present helped "forge a bond" of mutual respect between the two women. 

While the royals can easily afford the latest tech, the Queen reportedly still uses an antique Bakelite rotary dial telephone to call the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Kate Middleton has been spotted using an outdated corded landline. According to royal experts, the frugal Queen believes in the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

While Ikea furniture is commonplace in your average home, you might be surprised to discover that William and Kate use the inexpensive brand to outfit their luxury apartment in Kensington Palace. During a visit to the National Museum of Architecture and Design in Stockholm in 2018, the penny-pinching Duchess revealed to Ikea's Head of Design that she had decked out her children's bedrooms with furniture from the low-cost company.