Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton have a secret weapon to protect themselves against having their underwear revealed to the public when they’re wearing dresses, The Sun is reporting.
It’s a problem that has been bedeviling women and girls ever since dresses and women’s underwear have been things (about eight centuries, depending on whom you ask): The ill-timed gust of wind that blows your dress or skirt up, revealing your undies to whoever is looking at the moment. Most women/girls are temporarily embarrassed and then go on with their lives, or they laugh about it and go on with their lives. Or if you’re Marilyn Monroe, you turn it into an iconic image that lasts decades after you’ve died.
Not so Meghan and Kate. Wherever they go, they’re surrounded by photographers, and if their dress blew the wrong way, the image would be plastered over every newspaper in England and half of them in the States. They’re also frequently in places where there’s likely to be unwanted gusts of wind, such as airport runways. What’s more, they’re royals, and for a royal to reveal her undergarments (or “knickers” as they’re ever-so-politely referred to in the British press), even accidentally, would be scandalous beyond words.
Before she met #PrinceHarry , #MeghanMarkle blogged about Kate Middleton… and being a princess. ? https://t.co/GIiKTufov5
— InStyle (@InStyle) August 14, 2018
So how do they avoid the unavoidable? Royal etiquette expert “Myka” says that it’s actually pretty simple: They wear bodysuits underneath. Those suits serve two purposes: First, they create static, which if you’ll remember from your third-grade science homework, causes fabrics to stick to one another, beating Mother Nature at her own game. And secondly, if the wind is strong enough to overcome the static, there’s nothing to see.
Other options include heavy fabrics or even artificially adding weights to them. Queen Elizabeth herself is known to do that very thing.
“I know when I went to finishing school we were taught that… if you do not use weights or heavy weighted material, you make sure it will not fly up by wearing under garments that keep the fabrics connect to your body.”
Or they could just wear pants, but apparently, that’s not something that’s taught in British finishing schools. Perhaps Meghan, who went to American parochial schools, could politely explain that to her sister-in-law.
Of course, as everyone with long hair knows, the wind can also wreak havoc with your hair. That’s one of the reasons royal women are so often seen wearing hats: The garments keep the wind from flying into their eyes.
