Meghan Markle Ignored This Royal Rule While Pregnant That Kate Middleton Followed

Kate Middleton has welcomed three children throughout her eight-year marriage to Britain’s Prince William. During each of the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancies, she followed royal protocol by not having a baby shower, but her sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, broke this so-called family rule.

Last October, when the Duchess of Sussex was still expecting her first child with husband Prince Harry, Express released a report issuing speculation as to whether the American native would “be allowed what Kate wasn’t” by having a baby shower. While these specific parties are not celebrated within the royal family Markle, did, eventually, celebrate her children’s arrival with friends during a trip to New York City in February.

And while Markle was able to enjoy a baby shower, the outlet noted that Kate never publicly participated in a similar event for her own children. “Kate was not allowed to have one baby tradition other mothers in the UK will experience, a baby shower,” Express reported.

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Royals typically shy away from baby showers due to the mother-to-be being presented with gifts, something the Mountbatten-Windsor clans views as “tasteless” and is therefore “frowned” upon.

“A lavish baby shower would be seen as highly inappropriate,” royal expert Victoria Arbiter explained to People Magazine. Arbiter added that royal protocol states that any gifts given to expectant royal parents should be “respectfully returned.”

Arbiter further explained the baby shower protocol to ABC News in 2013, saying, “They are clearly very wealthy... There’s nothing they can’t go out and buy themselves.”