Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex, And The Style Favorites She Has Dropped Since Becoming Royal

Being royal comes with a list of rules the size of the entire Harry Potter series, and marrying into the family knowing this must be a daunting prospect.

But in the four months since Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, tied the knot at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, the former Suits actress has quickly navigated her way through some of the fashion rules that accompany her new royal title, reported Express UK.

As a star in Hollywood, anything goes on the red carpet (think Lady Gaga’s meat dress and Joy Villa’s, um, cage dress), but as a royal, there are certain style guides that Meghan has to adhere to. The royal family is supposed to be dignified at all times, which means members of the family should dress as such.

The myriad of rules, however, can be confusing. From who can and can’t wear tiaras, what time of the day said tiaras and other diamonds are allowed, Meghan and her sister-in-law Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, both have a team of aides that help them dress in order to avoid any major fashion faux pas.

Since her engagement announcement, Meghan has drastically changed up her style from what her fans were used to seeing.

As an actress, she often enjoyed wearing short skirts and plunging necklines on the red carpet. As a royal, showing off the goodies is frowned upon, although strictly speaking there is no official rule dictating the required minimum length of hemlines.

Catherine and her grandmother-in-law always sport at least knee-length hemlines when out on royal engagements. The look is both modest and flattering, and the newest duchess has only broken that unspoken rule once when she and Harry attended a performance of Hamilton last month. On that occasion, Meghan opted for a Judith and Charles tuxedo, with a skirt that was visibly above her knees.

Meghan has also swapped out her deep v-neck garments for more modest Bardot necklines, such as the one on her Givenchy wedding dress.

Despite previously often wearing dark nail polishes, Her Majesty is said to consider colorful nail polishes “vulgar,” and royal women should not be seen with a dash of color on their fingers. Since her engagement, Meghan has ditched the bright lacquers in favor of the queen’s favorite, a shade of soft pink that is almost invisible.

Queen Elizabeth has also made her disdain for wedge shoes known, and while Catherine still dons them from time to time (not in the presence of Her Majesty, of course), Meghan seems to have dropped the comfy footwear completely since tying the knot.

The duchess also enjoyed flats before meeting Harry, but since their relationship went public, she has seemingly gotten rid of those too.

Celebrity photographer Glenn Gratton has explained that this could be owing to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s considerable height difference. At 5″6′, Meghan is a full seven inches shorter than Harry.

“Couples with a big height difference look slightly unbalanced in pictures, and often the smaller of the two ends up looking even smaller and is constantly looking up at their partner. In the case of Harry and Meghan she will be wearing high heels to maximize her height and shorten the gap if possible. Careful use of wardrobe choices will be important for Harry and Meghan to make sure the couples’ height difference is minimized.”

So Meghan opts for heels, even when she will be traversing grass (and likely have her heels sinking into it) as she did during the couple’s first overseas tour to Ireland in July.