Meghan Markle’s Reformation Dress Didn’t Actually Break Any Royal Rules
Meghan Markle spent today in Australia taking a brief break from most of the events on the couple's itinerary for Fraser Island (Harry did three on his own instead) but came out for their final engagement: meeting members of the public at Kingfisher Bay Resort. Meghan, hand in hand with Harry, wore a Reformation dress for the occasion-one with a thigh slit. At first look, it's seemingly protocol breaking in three ways, Cosmopolitan UKpointed out: Meghan has bare shoulders, no tights on, and is wearing Sarah Flint sandals, aka open-toed shoes.
But the reality is while the dress may break tradition, it is not breaking any rules. Meghan's team of royal aides who present her with appropriate options for any event are always making sure of it. "They would not have given her the option to do something disrespectful," Myka Meier, Beaumont Etiquette's founder/director and a British-American trained by a former member of the Queen's household, told ELLE.com earlier this year. "She has an entire team of aides that call [in] pieces...they would have pulled appropriate pieces. The palace is very involved in what she wears and her presentation. And of course she has the final say, but there wouldn’t have been any of her breaking rules."
Also, there are no rules saying shoulders must be completely covered, even at formal events like Trooping the Colour (where Meghan showed her shoulders too). "There’s no actual protocol....There was nothing that said ‘you have to have your shoulders covered,’ Meier said. "She dressed respectfully [although] it was a little bit more skin than we’d ever seen traditionally worn at Trooping the Colour."
Meghan generally seemed to be in high spirits at her event with Harry. And a royal aide made it clear to Express that after her day of rest, Meghan was ready to go for the rest of the tour.
"She isn't sick, she just had a tiring few days and we were concerned about the roads on the island which are incredibly bumpy and uncomfortable for anyone, let alone a pregnant woman," the aide said of why Meghan didn't attend most of the events on Fraser Island. "But the duchess was very keen to re-join the duke at the last engagement of the day to greet the people of the island."
An inside source echoed the same thing to Hello: "She is not sick or exhausted and is feeling fine, and in fact she spent some time preparing for the coming days of the tour while the Duke was out on duty," the source said.
Meghan is set to resume her full schedule with Prince Harry Tuesday as they travel from Australia to Fiji for the next leg of their tour.
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