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A fashion “mistake” made by Meghan Markle early on in her time as a working royal hinted the “royal dream” wouldn’t “last.” According to a commentator, there were other “clues” too, including one big “red flag.” But the Duchess of Sussex’s fashion choice when visiting a university with Prince Harry was the “biggest glaring error.” 

Meghan wore high heel shoes to a 2018 college visit with Prince Harry  

On September 28, 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Loughborough, England’s namesake university. There, they attended the Coach Core Awards, met with 60 graduate “apprentices,” and even played catch on the basketball court. 

Meghan’s shoes, a pair of high heels, caught the attention of Maia Snow, the now-World News Editor at Express. Reflecting on the experience, Snow said: “There were clues that the royal dream could not last” (via Express). 

“By far,” she noted, “the biggest glaring error” was Meghan’s shoes. They stood out in contrast to her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, who is currently receiving preventative chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer. The Princess of Wales, Snow said,  “always” dresses the part with “sports gear” and her hair up on similar occasions. 

“Instead, she [Meghan] chose to wear stilettos, paired with smart black trousers and a form-fitting navy top and kept her hair down throughout the visit.” 

“Perhaps this contributed to how uncomfortable she seemed on the day,” the commentator continued. “But regardless of the circumstances, someone made a mistake” with the choice of shoes. 

Meghan didn’t employ the services of a stylist during her time as a working royal. While she’s known to pull off casual style well — some say better than Kate — Meghan was, at the time, in the early days of royal life. And a wardrobe mishap or two is bound to happen, even for royalty. 

Meghan looked ‘uncomfortable’ in a ‘world’ that wasn’t for her 

Snow continued, saying that even from far away, she could see “how uncomfortable Meghan seemed to be.” 

Meanwhile, Harry “looked at ease in his role as the prince, cracking jokes with the students and other attendees and comfortably throwing a ball around.”

“The same could not be said for his wife,” Snow said of Meghan. “Photos from the day paint an obvious picture that this was not the world for Meghan. She looked incredibly uncomfortable while she played catch with the students.” 

“Her wide stance and lost look should have tipped us all off that she wasn’t going to continue with her royal duties,” she added, noting the visit happened 16 months before the couple announced their intention to step back as senior working royals.  

The ‘most obvious red flag’ was how Meghan stuck close to Harry 

Neither Meghan’s choice of shoes nor looking “uncomfortable” was the “most obvious red flag,” according to Snow. Rather, the “red flag” was how Meghan stayed close to Harry during the outing. 

“For me, and I imagine all the other journalists gathered there, the most obvious red flag was how much Meghan clung to Harry throughout the day,” she said. “If he moved away, she quickly followed. And even if she was having her own conversation with a student, her husband was always nearby.” 

At the time, Meghan had just passed the fourth-month mark since officially joining the royal family having married Harry on May 19, 2018. As Meghan herself has said in interviews since, she had a lot to learn about being a royal, from England’s national anthem — she Googled “God Save the Queen” — to greeting members of the public on a “walkabout.” 

Now, she resides in Montecito, California, with Harry and their two children and is working on a new lifestyle brand. 

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