The Rule Kate Middleton Breaks, But Meghan Markle Doesn’t

Meghan Markle gets a lot of criticism for breaking royal rules and protocol, but she isn’t alone. As it turns out, both she and Kate Middleton are both guilty of breaking a specific rule about the jewelry they wear and when.

According to a recent report in Express UK, both the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex have broken what is seen as a “ridiculous” royal fashion rule regarding wearing “subtle bling” at certain times of the day.

According to royal etiquette expert Myka Meier in an interview with news.com.au in 2018, both Duchesses are not supposed to wear diamond jewelry during the daytime unless it has a religious or marital meaning behind it. Those pieces are not to come out until the evening time.

“Other jewels are worn pre-6pm,” she said at the time. “Before 6 pm, you’ll see metallics, gemstones, pearls, sapphires. At night, you’ll see the diamonds come out, and that’s in order to not come across as flashy in your appearance.”

This means that why both women are allowed to wear their wedding and engagement rings during the daytime, other diamond jewelry is forbidden. Express notes that Markle has been mainly good at following the rule, though she’s been spotted wearing some diamonds during the day, including a diamond bracelet from her own baptism.

The website reports that Middleton has also broken the rule several times, stating that she avidly goes against it at times. While there are no specific examples listed, it is worth noting that the Duchess has kept most of the flashiest jewelry she has access to relegated to nighttime events.

However, even if she breaks that rule, she still has a better track record with some of the others than Markle may. Other rules include always wearing pantyhose during working hours, keeping coats on in public, wearing closed-toe shoes during daytime hours, keeping their shoulders covered and not bearing cleavage and also having an acceptable hemline.

For the most part, Markle has mainly followed those rules as well, though she did face criticism during her first Trooping the Color event in 2018, where she wore an off-the-shoulder pink dress by Carolina Herrera.