Yesterday was Commonwealth Day, and the royal family assembled (like the Avengers, but posh) at Westminster Abbey for a special church service. I honestly expected the Duchess of Sussex to keep wearing her green Erdem ensemble. She did not. She made an entire costume change and it’s painful. First, let me say that minus the hat, I actually love her Victoria Beckham ensemble. I think the dress and coat are beautiful. I want Meghan – and Kate too – to wear more of this hemline, because it’s super-flattering on both women and they would be less likely to flash people. If Meghan had just stuck to the dress and coat, I would have been so pleased. If she had just stuck a flower in her hair, that would have been lovely too. But no. She had to attempt this hat.
I said on Twitter yesterday that I was thinking about devoting an entire post to that f–king hat. I won’t. The thing is, I actually believe Meghan has a face for hats (Kate does too, as did Diana). But not this Nurse Ratched looking bullsh–t. Find you a man who will tell you to take off the 1950s nurse’s pillbox before you leave the house. Harry did her dirty with that one.
As for Kate, she repeated a Catherine Walker coatdress which we last saw in 2014, during the Cambridges’ Australia-New Zealand tour. I think the Gina Foster hat is probably the new item of this ensemble, and it’s fine. I mean, considering how many f–king buttons are on this coatdress, it’s a wonder she doesn’t repeat this every three months.
Now, for the body language between the Sussexes and Cambridges… Meghan and Kate greeted each other with a quick and polite cheek-kiss, and they were seen smiling at each other a few times. But the body language between Harry and William is ICE ICE BABY. Seriously, those two still haven’t buried the hatchet. Meghan and Kate are doing all of the heavy lifting on “going along and getting along.”
I saw that various sites were making a big deal about how Meghan curtsied to Prince Charles and Kate didn’t – Kate greeted Charles with a double-kiss on the cheeks and no curtsy. People Magazine wrongly claims that Kate doesn’t “have” to curtsy to Charles… except she does, because Charles outranks her. Suddenly, the Protocol Police are dead silent when Meghan follows protocol and Kate doesn’t. Interesting. Start watching at the 8:30-minute mark to see Meghan’s curtsy. From my understanding, this was not a flub or a break of protocol on her part. It was a case of Meghan being the only one following protocol.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
It’s not ruined. Let’s not be overly dramatic. It’s not quite a pillbox hat but I see where she was going. Still overall a fine look.
I think the hat is fine, the problem is how she did her hair underneath the hat. I wish you would stop being quite so dedicated to the middle part at least.
I am no expert on hats but I thought it looked fine. Is there a hat whisper around?
Right. That middle path does not go with a pillbox hat. It was for me the hands down worst thing she has ever worn. I like the pieces individually, but not put together. Together I: Hated the white coat. Hated the hat. Hated the hairstyle. Hated the dress too. It was awful. Kate looked wonderful.
Those brothers play nice in public but not in private. This brotherly hate is very Shakespearean and reeks of king Richard and Edward.
Eagerly awaiting Act 2 of the drama.
Yes, that hat in white with the center part just gives it a wimple/nurse’s cap vibe.
Meghan is wearing a nurse’s cap and Kate is wearing a bedpan so they kind of coordinate.
Chain print. Chain. Print. The hat is aesthetics, but that print
..
She looks adorable w hat all in white w green pumps. So cute, guess I love retro, and I rarely have occasion. Wow “stupid” hat? It’s retro Halston I believe and iconic.
I agree. I am much more bothered by Meg holding her purse the way Kate does…both hands clasping it from the top. Is that a protocol thing? I’ve always thought that Kate looked ridiculous when she held her purse in that manner, and now Meg is doing it! Please stop! But her outfit is lovely.
I read once that it’s like HM’s signaling with her handbag: Hold the clutch with BOTH hands when you don’t wish to shake hands; placing it in one hand/under the arm, when you do.
What’s funny is that the first time Kate wore that coatdress, it was with a pillbox hat with a center part in hair hair. LOL. People has the picture. Not sure if I can attach the link:
https://people.com/royals/kate-middleton-rewears-catherine-walker-coat-dress/
so I don’t like it with the pillbox hat (for reasons in my rant below, haha) but I do think the pillbox hat looks better with her hair down. I don’t like the black shoes with that red dress though, I think the grey/beige ones she wore yesterday look better because they go with the buttons.
And that dress is like the most button-y thing ever, hahaha!
I agree. I also think those type of hats are better for bigger heads and hairstyles. Meghan is very petite. On another note, I’m not a fan of about 98% of the hats I see at Royal Family events.
I was thinking the same thing. She has a delicate face, and the hat just overpowers her. For it to have worked, it would have had to have been much smaller and more delicate. It also reminds me of old-fashioned nurse’s hats. I’s just missing the black stripe at the top. Other than that, I loved the coat (great texture!) and the dress (lovely print!) I’m not a fan of Kate’s coat. While that red is phenomenal on her, there are just So. Many. Buttons.
I agree with Kaiser, it was a great outfit but all I notice is the hat. Her head is too small for it, looks silly.
Yes to all of this. The hat was dreadful. The rest of her ensemble was fine, I thought. Loved the shoes, how the color picked up the subtle pattern of the dress fabric.
Yeah, it’s not a pillbox hat, pillbox hats are much smaller and would have probably looked better, not so overwhelming. To me it looks like a sailor’s hat.
Love the outfit, though.
Agreed, that’s not a pillbox, the crown is too high. A pillbox would have been a better choice. It’s so jarring, every time I see it I wince. It looks like a jumbo marshmallow stop her head. She’s so gorgeous, this makes me twitch. I don’t like the dress either. I do like the coat. Perhaps a small veiled Juliet hat would have done it. Personally I think she looks so much better in body con dresses than this. I get it church ain’t the place for body con. I can’t help thinking she should have kept the green outfit on. Oh well, I’ll put this behind me and look forward to the next exciting Sussex outing. BTW, if she’s really due at the end of April, I’m putting my money on twins.
I liked the hat and I liked the look overall. There’s nothing wrong with wearing a middle part with a pill box hat. If I didn’t like anything it would be the shoes.
It’s not ruined but it is a needle scratch. Maybe she should have matched the chain print and worn a dove grey coat and hat?
This preposterous hat makes her look like a world war II nurse. God bless her pregnancy hormones for such a hilarious distortion of good taste.
The silly hat makes her look like a 1950s nurse in a British hospital drama. I really like some of VB’s designs, and Meghan carries them off well. No good for women like me though; the ones with big boobs and round bums.
The Queen looks fantastic.
Doesn’t she? Royal purple is her color.
Right???!!!
The coat. The hat. The brooch.
I want it all.
The Queen and Camilla killed it.
She really does look amazing.
I liked the hat, actually *shrugs* To each her own!
Me too lol it was very Jackie O
Right! I love the hat, and I think it really makes the look. She looks fantastic head to toe.
I didn’t care for the hat at all. And personally, I liked the green outfit a lot more. Considering the “off with her head” crap about her spending, today might’ve been a good day to not change outfits, but…whatevah 😊
Re: Kate not curtseying to Charles: protocol demands the curtsey the FIRST time (in the day) that they meet. Could be that William and Kate saw Charles before coming in, and it was done then; M & H didn’t, hence having to curtsey/bow. That’s what read about bowing when they were on the balcony for TTOC event. Some bowed/curtseyed to HM on the balcony when she came out, others didn’t (because they saw her before inside before coming out).
I also noticed in a clip on IG that H and W were actually talking with each other at some point waiting there in line. They seemed iind of engaged in conversation using hands and gestures.
Ah all this rules you have to follow. I hate so many rules. I work somewhere where we have a ton of them and I find half of them stupid to say the least. Some of them hurt my soul if I may say. Oh well the plus is that they live a lavish life. I would courtesy too..maybe
I like the hat, too. Pillboxy, sure. But Kate’s hat looks like a red blood cell. It’s medically-themed all around and I’m always here for a good theme.
Same, she looks beautiful. Maybe a little like a nurse, but like the best looking one in the hospital. 😉
I do, too! It’s a classic look and very pretty.
Is there a difference between a coat and a coat dress? Are all nice coats “coat dresses”? I love a good coat too but it is so weird to me that her outfits consist entirely of coats
A coat is worn OVER a dress/outfit (dress or pants/blouse). A coat dress is a stand alone outfit with only a slip and undergarments (hopefully!) under, no other clothes worn under it.
Kate wore this with a matching red dress underneath. Same one that flew up when she got off the plane in Australia, walking down the steps holding George (while Will walked in front, blithely ignoring helping his wife navigate the wind/stairs/child).
So why isn’t it just called a dress?
Manda
its like saying pencil skirt or denim jacket. Descriptive yet still a coat dress is a dress. Inspired by coats.
For the British Royals, a coatdress is a coordinating lightweight coat or (or long jacket) worn over a matching dress. The queen does this all the time. It isn’t called just a dress because the coat and matching dress underneath are 2 separate pieces that coordinate together. Ive only seen the royal women of Britain favoring this style. They all wear a coordinating coat (long blazer) over a matching dress.
Eh, it’s a little bit tall but there’s nothing all that offensive about the hat!
Kate and Meghan have never curtsied to Charles in the past (at least not in public), so I guess that is why people are surprised
As for the outfits, I like Kate’s coat better this time around than in 2014. The accessories are better, the hat and hair are better, and Kate carries herself with more confidence, and that makes a world of difference.
As for Meghan, I like this VB ensemble but I don’t *love* it. And the hat is an atrocity that should be burned. It is too big for her small and delicate face.
It could be possible that Kate had already curtsied to him that day. You only have to curtsy once. Remember when Beatrice didn’t curtsy to the Queen and everyone else did b/c she had done so earlier? Also, it may be possible that you only have to curtsy to the Queen within the family, and Meghan is still learning the curtsy rules?
Protocol is that everyone under Charles is supposed to bow/curtsy to Charles, but no one ever does. His siblings don’t and I’ve never seen Will or Harry do it either. I’m pretty sure that they all ignore this protocol and only ever bow/curtsy to the Queen and Philip. I’m not sure why Meghan would curtsy since Harry didn’t bow though. She only has to curtsy to the people he has to when he is with her. It wasn’t very deep and they seem to laugh after. Maybe an inside joke?
ItsOk – Harry does bow/nod his head, if you watch the video. It’s right before he kisses him.
@Royalwatcher I noticed that Harry sort of nodded. Meghan probably also mistook it for a bow. Protocol is to kiss and then to curtsy/bow. Video of everyone greeting the Queen at George’s christening shows them all doing it that way. I doubt Harry would get it mixed up after all these years. Harry’s bows are always rather stiff and a little exaggerated in comparison to what we saw today.
Talking about Kate’s accessories, she looks one small square scarf away from an air hostess. But that look still is better than the pillbox hat.
I have to say that her curtsy was really nice! She’s hugely pregnant and wearing heels, and she still managed an expert straight-spine curtsy. I’d imagine that’s no easy feat.
I hate the hat. But the dress and coat are GLORIOUS.
The hat is fine. What I miss is gregarious smiling Harry. This new version is grim.
You make an excellent point. He really is grim now.
I’ve seen plenty of pictures of Harry smiling.
The body language btwn H & W is very tense. There were pics of the women smiling, and the men wouldn’t even look over that way, but looked straight ahead. Also, when H &W DID talk, it really seemed to lack warmth, no smiles, etc. Of course, these snaps are a millisecond in time, and who knows! We could all be projecting all of our suppositions onto them. But my gut tells me there is still a LOT of simmering resentment going on.
I hope that once the baby is born there will be some thawing; how could ANYONE not love a sweet, adorable baby!
Jan that comment hit me because my brother didn’t come see my son (who was in the NICU for two weeks), he didn’t call or text outside of two calls the first week he was born and he only saw him because we were at my parents house at the same time….he was 20 weeks at that point. I was counting. After I let that go, he made a comment this weekend that I consider unforgivable. I took the Meghan and her dad stuff very personally as well because everyone was telling me to forgive him because he’s my brother. Some family are just toxic. I hope Will isn’t like my brother. My brother’s racist, I hope Will isn’t.
I have to roll my eyes every time I see this type of comment. People seem to like focusing on certain pictures to create a “ Harry is miserable” narrative in their heads.
Yes he’s miserably in love with his wife….they can’t stand that fact!
Whaaaa? He’s constantly smiling at his woman! At his brother? Not so much…I’ll give you that.
That’s like telling a woman to simile more…
I hate the hat but it reminds me of that god awful hat I had to wear during nursing clinicals
I hate it. It’s definitely evocative of the crap nurses used to have to wear. I never did, thank God, and wish Meghan didn’t either. Love this outfit otherwise.
All I could see was a extra from call the midwife with that hat. Hated it
THAT’S why I hate the hat. I’m not a nurse (have no stomach for it) but that’s 100% what it is. It looks like a throwback to nursing uniforms. If it were a different color, and her dress a different color, I don’t think I’d have the same reaction. But because it’s all white, and it looks like a nurses hat, I just don’t like it.
To me, it’s a cross between a nurse’s hat and a sailor’s hat. Everything else looks beautiful. Love the black and white dress with the black heels, love the coat, love the glowing duchess. But the hat is the worst.
I would like to know in which country do nurses wear hats like this. I know here in North America nurses don’t wear them. And I’ve looked at many pictures of nurses but haven’t found any that wear hats as opposed to small little caps they pin onto their heads/hair. I love all of Meghan’s outfit, yes all of it. I would have rather she didn’t do the middle part though. And I like Kate’s dress too. Personally, I would have rather cream shoes on Kate but that’s just me.
The brother feud is made up in my opinion.
Regards to curtsying it’s now no biggie because Meghan is the one that did so while later didn’t. I’m sure if Kate had curtsyied and Meg didn’t, oh my, there wouldn’t even have been any exploration of ideas like maybe she already saw Chuck and was meeting him for the second time in the day. Nobody would be making any excuses that are being made for Kate, you’d have had protocol police going for Meghan’s jugular, asking for her head on a platter and then some.
Perhaps it’s a royal requirement: all royal ladies have to wear a hat like that ONCE lol. Here’s a side by side from Harper’s Bazaar: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/a26785191/meghan-markle-commonwealth-day-princess-diana-kate-middleton/
***OF COURSE I”M JOKING.. but the pic IS real! 😊
HAHAHAHA. Is Diana directing a marching band? God, all of those hats are bad.
LOL THIS IS AMAZING. Diana’s was the worst (can’t believe I just said that), but all of them, yikes.
Great catch, Jan—omg, those hats are ALL horrible!
I remember someone saying that Meghan doesn’t have a face for hats & they might be right! Most of the hats she has worn don’t suit her & this one is another dud!
She’s obviously trying to channel Jackie O with this whole look but it doesn’t work. Seems like she’s trying too hard but it comes off looking like a costume.
Her whole outfit gives me Pope vibes for whatever reason. Without the hat it would be fine, with the hat, nooooooo.
Her whole look is terrible…reminds me of a Halloween nurse costume.
Loved the outfit, HATED the hat. Too big, too nurse-like, too weird looking with the middle parting of her hair.
+1
Popeye the Sailor Man just found the hat he thought he lost and wants it back. 👨🍳
Meghan’s hat doesn’t bother me as much as Kate’s race to the bottom with that coat dress. Those buttons serve no purpose and look ridiculous. I fear that one day she’ll appear with a coat completely covered in buttons from head to toe. Meghan looks radiant. Everyone else in the “fab four” picture looks like they’d rather be somewhere else.
Ahhh that would be amazingggg!! You made me snarf my coffee. BUT – Actually being covered in pearly buttons is some sort of London Cockney thing, I have learned from some Googling that went in a weird direction. Maybe Kate is signalling us very very subtly? 😀 Check this out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearly_Kings_and_Queens “The practice of wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons[1] is first associated with Henry Croft (1861-1930), an orphan street sweeper who collected money for charity. At the time, London costermongers (street traders) were in the habit of wearing trousers decorated at the seams with pearl buttons that had been found by market traders. In the late 1870s, Croft adapted this to create a pearly suit to draw attention to himself and aid his fund-raising activities.[2][3] In 1911 an organised pearly society was formed in Finchley, north London.” Sorry for the weird formatting but I copied from wikipedia…
Haha! I could see the Duke of York, Prince Andrew in something like that — he’s always so thirsty for attention!! LOL!
Agree. Her outfit is amazing. Hats are really.difficult for modern women to wear, they look dated and weird bo matter what. She probably should have gone with a beret, but I don’t find this offensive.
That hideously cheap-looking red ‘all eyes on me, folks’ getup, on the other hand…
“the royal family assembled (like the Avengers, but posh)” – I genuinely loved that, Kaiser.
I still stand by there not being any feud between the women. They might have momentarily been slightly annoyed at each other at some point, but I think it was more to do with the fact that they have to listen to their husbands whine about what a dick the other one is being.
Agreed!! I think the women are fine, and most likely agreed that the men need to sort themselves out, they are staying out of it! It has been said Wills can hold a grudge, and Harry is very stubborn, so… neither is willing to thaw to more than civility at this point. As I said above, hopefully the baby’s birth with break this down, as who can resist a sweet baby? 😊
I think the baby could be a good opening for better relationships too. Honestly, brand new, adorable babies – especially ones that you get to play with and hand back – are such ice breakers haha. Maybe Will would enjoy being “Uncle W” enough that the two will get over it. I know our niece is obsessed with my husband – there’s just something fun about uncles.
I like how Kate reached out to hug Meghan, which she wouldn’t have done if they hated each other. Whether he meant it or not, Will did kiss her on both cheeks, so it is nice seeing everyone get along, even if it’s just for show (the guys). Meghan and Charles are cute together.
Of course k and m are ok. Not bffs, just fine. H and W had some fall out and it is not over the marriage. W looked very proud at the wedding. Something happened and blaming kate or meg is just idiotic. There is more to it and i have one theory. It involves chucky and if it is true, Harry is an idiot. It is my gut feeling
I like the hat, it’s very chic. I think the issue is her styling- if her hair was looser, the hat would look less nurse-like.
The hat is painful.
It is.
Who does her makeup? It’s always awful!! She’s so pretty and, just wtf?! Same with Kate. I rarely read Royal posts bc they are super BORING but I just had to comment on the makeup thing. I don’t get it.
Meghan’s makeup is fine. Look at the beginning of the video, her makeup doesn’t look like these pics.
I think something is going on before her pics are released.
Or, maybe the photography is done with a higher definition camera and more intense flash. I REALLY don’t think it’s being done as a Meghan hit – look at pretty much any red carpet. You’ll see flashback on SO many women because of the HD powder they use. Nobody is editing them to look like that. And in the videos they don’t look strange. I think it’s just how her makeup is reacting to the lighting.
Okay that makes sense.
@Erinn
I know about white powder showing up in pictures, but I’ve never seen a blush darken. Meghan was in the entertainment business for years, as we all know, and when she was on carpets her makeup never appeared heavy like it does now.
Something’s fishy.
I mean, maybe? But I really think it’s the fact that the video shows a consistent light source and the photography is using a harsher light. It’s not the same as a flashback – but if it’s a harsher light, it can make makeup look more noticeable. Kate’s can look very severe as well – but it’s never as bad looking in videos. I mean, it’s also possible that it’s a combination of the two possibilities.
And while she was in the entertainment business – perhaps she wasn’t doing her own makeup for events? I mean, maybe she’s doing it now. Maybe she brought some new/different products than what she used to use. Maybe she can blend perfectly fine for it to look great in person, but not with the same level of skill as a makeup artist who works specifically for entertainment type events.
I don’t like hats like that, and it really seems to make the center part in her dark hair so severely noticeable.
I am not a fan of the pill box hat. Not a plain vanilla one as this. It needed sprucing up a tad bit. Veil or a small feather or tiny bits of baby breaths.
Like Kate’s coat. Buttons galore.
Every time I see old William I think of the line from GOTG 1 and the line about sticks up the butt. 😄
Twitter was on fire with Meghan and Charles chatting away and being warm to each other. It has to be eating Evil Papa Smurf alive. Strangely no Twitter screeds from Sam the Other Daughter about this.
They both look fine. Not great, just fine. I’m not a huge fan of the hat but I dont think it ruined the whole thing.
Will and Harry are FROSTY I’ve been saying that the problem is not Kate and Meg but the brothers who have proven themselves to be divas on multiple occasions (yes, even Harry.) I really think that Meg and Kate dont care about each other nearly as much as the media makes it out to be. They’re just co-workers and sisters in law.
As for the curtsying thing, I’ve never been the etiquette police of whatever but it makes me uncomfortable to see any human bowing or curtsying to another human. I would never bow to anyone, it’s not in me. It’s like if I had to greet my boss with a curtsy … weird. It’s just out of my atmosphere.
About the only person on the planet I would bow to would be Serena Williams. That lady deserves all the respect.
The hat looks stupid and the brothers are clearly fighting. Sucks that the wives have to play nice and make the effort to prove that THEY aren’t fighting.
I think it’s the center part of her hair that’s throwing off the look.
However, even with a soft hairstyle, the hat is 1944 makeshift triage unit.
Or Kate had already curtsied to Prince Charles earlier that day… “they” say that the royals only have to curtsy the first time they see each other that day, although if everyone else was curtsying at some point later I think I would curtsy again just to avoid the inevitable “She broke protocol! How disrespectful!”
protocol only applies to Meghan, though!
I’m not a fan of the hat. I think retro/vintage looks are one thing, but I think sometimes it is very easy to verge into costume territory, and that’s what I think the hat does for Meghan. I just don’t really like pillbox hats in general (I think they look nice when I see them in pictures from 50 years ago, but not now.) I think they are really hard to pull off for a woman in 2019 without that costume-y feel. I don’t like when Kate wears them, and I don’t like this one on Meghan.
Now, that rant aside….Meghan looks great besides that (which I think increases my ire over the hat – such a great outfit, then the hat!) and I love how she does colored shoes with a more neutral outfit.
I don’t like the coatdress on Kate and I’m not sure I ever did. For some reason I don’t love her in double breasted coats like this, with a few exceptions. I am not sure what it is. But, I do like the color.
Re: the curtsy, there could be several reasons why Kate didn’t – maybe she did earlier in the day as someone mentioned, maybe Charles has told her she does not have to curtsy to him, maybe she just flat out “broke protocol” (lol), but my guess is that there is a reason she didn’t, and even if that same reason is true for Meghan, she knew that if she DIDNT, people would rip her to shreds. Better to err on the side of curtsying a second time, which I’m sure is what she was thinking.
The buttons on Kate’s coat look cheap and misaligned. It’s a nice colour but that second row of buttons adds nothing to the outfit.
My mother and grandmother wore pillbox hats in the sixties, but they were not so large as this one Meghan has on. That’s what is off about it, to me. If it was smaller and not so tall, with maybe a wisp of black veiling, it would be great with the outfit.
Also a vintage thing: I would prefer that coats be as long as or longer than the dress. There was a study done for a book called, “Dress for Success” (or something similar) and always if the coat covered the dress, rather than the dress hanging out the bottom, the wearer was judged “higher.”
Maybe smaller and with a different hairstyle… yeah, then it’d work. I love the rest of the outfit. Kate’s a bobblehead in buttons, nothing new there.
Oh, and also – totally agree that the brothers still appear to be fighting. In the one picture in the post, Meghan and Kate are looking at each other and smiling, and Harry and William are both looking away from each other and seem to be ignoring each other.
now obviously a picture is just a snapshot and it could be they immediately went back to laughing and talking to each other and the picture is deceptive. but overall, even in the snippets of video I saw from the event, something seems to be off.
I agree with other posters that Kate and Meghan don’t appear to be BFFs but appear to be friendly enough to each other, which is fine for SILs.
My guess is once the baby arrives, they’ll also become a little closer, too. Kate genuinely seems to love babies and little children.
William and Harry hate the press. Standing there waiting for the Queen they can see the press taking photos and l bet they are deliberately not being over friendly and giving the press the types of photos they want. William knows what the headlines would be if he started chatting away animatedly with Harry or even Meghan.
Meghan’ hat isn’t stupid. It’s a pillbox hat in pure Jackie Kennedy style. Classy and chic.
The positioning of the hat makes it look too much like a retro nurses cap. Shouldn’t pillbox lie flatter on the head? Otherwise she looks beautiful. Kate meah – great fit but she looks severe and buttony.
I love Kate’s ensemble here, just as I did the first wearing. The color is perfect on her, the fit-and-flare silhouette makes her look more curvy than she is, and the hat and her height make her look regal. I don’t have a button problem with her either. Each to her own. : )
I don’t hate the hat, but I don’t like it. There are worse hats, but it was a poor choice. The rest of Meghan’s ensemble looked good and her dynamic with Charles was lovely to see.
Isn’t that the coat Kate wore when she was carrying George off a plane? The one that blew up and almost showed us far far too much? I’m surprised she wore that again with how the weather was yesterday, but maybe it’s had some weights added to the hem since.
To throw my own hat in the ring (groan), I think both women looked lovely. Their behaviour and ensembles were on point for such an important occasion. The brothers, on the other hand…!
Both outfits are fine but if i had to pick one it would be Megs – i love the hat.
I know Katie Keen LOVES her coatdresses with buttons galore but they do age her – but i get the middle aged housewife look is her uniform but when she makes the effort to be chic she looks good. How many colours does she have in these coats that pretty much all look the same.
Now for the Princes’s – its obvs that they have not yet resolved their issues and yes I think it’s coming from the fact that William does not like Meghan. Meghan is the new star of the family and William is like his father in that he does not like to be ‘outshone’. Harry however seems to love the fact the she’s popular with the people and that she gets more attention at their public events from us plebs than he does.
It’s almost comical how the media ignores the rift between the two brothers to focus on how Meghan is tearing the family apart and destroying the monarchy with her 5am emails.
Will and Harry don’t smile or speak to each other.
Headlines: How Meghan is tearing the brothers apart.
Will punches Harry in the face.
Headlines: William and Harry come to blows over Meghan.
Harry pushes Will off a cliff.
Headlines: Meghan Directs Harry to Murder William.
Everything will be Meghan’s fault including Brexit and the apocalypse.
Well I am down to my last pot of yogurt today, now I am not saying Meghan is to blame but it is definitely her fault.
The UK’s treacherous members are parliament are about to force a no deal Brexit because they can but its actually all Meghan’s fault that they are too interested in putting personal politics and ego’s over their country.
LOL! Oh, just wait.
The hat and hair look lovely in the side views where the center part isn’t visible.
(I prefer this hat to a useless bit of ‘fascinator’ stuck on at an angle)
I didn’t mind the hat, really. I feel like she’s probably still adapting to them. The rest of her outfit is amazing. Those shoes!!! I. Will. Have. Them.
I wish the hem of Meghan’s dress wasn’t longer than the coat. It looks sloppy.
Kate did that last week, too. I hate that. I was always taught a dress should never be longer than a coat.
I cut her slack since she is super pregnant and the fit is off on everything now.
We will be seeing Meghan’s dress again, when she is not pregnant, it will be shorter, and the pattern will match at the seams ( DM people going mad over an expensive dress where pattern doesn’t match over the seams). My guess is that this dress was made bigger to go over the bump and made longer.
Who knew Victoria Beckham made maternity dresses?
Wait—what’s the problem between the brothers? I missed that memo!
Also, I’m not a fan of the hat. Love both women’s outfits, otherwise. Meg looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy took a squat on her head.
I’m pretty sure some “royal events” require the wearing of hats. The hat is part of “the uniform” for her job. Seems out-dated in terms of what’s fashionable, but just like the pantyhose….
HARRY’S TOUCHING HIS BUMP! Call the bump touching police immediately!
I quite like the hat, as it goes.
Meghan looks very “Call the Midwife” with that hat there is nothing good about it. It’s a shame because the rest of the outfit is nice.
I totally agree with Kaiser. The hat looks ridiculous. And I too wished she worn the green ensemble she wore earlier which was gorgeous. The white coat and dress are ok, but the skirt should be shorter than the coat.
As for Kate, she looked tired, and what’s with the eyebrows? The red coat is a repeat but gawd, all those buttons. This coat in particular makes her look really thin.
Willy looked very tense, the body language between the brothers was very cold. JMO.
I loved the hat!
I watched this live whilst at the gym yesterday and my takeaway from it was that Megan really enjoyed the diversity of the ‘performers’; drummers from the Indian subcontinent, modern chart bands, choirs etc. She was smiling away, enjoying herself!
Harry got caught on the big screen bopping along to the music as well.
ha yes he did! They both seemed to really enjoy the day, so it’s good Megan is going to be involved more in this.
Janelle monae wore a similar hat with Chanel right? The hat looks nice enough on Meghan’s face but it does look like a nurse hat or something random.
I find the VB ensemble something the queen or anyone her age would wear. Not flattering on Meghan especially pregnant and I hope Kate won’t wear that either yikes. Wouldn’t have guessed it was VB
William didn’t bow so I assume they had already seen Charles and bowed/curtsied then. I couldn’t see if Harry bowed, though. That would be a good indication of 1) H&M did not see Charles previous to the service, 2) Meghan did not have to curtsy. I’m more inclined towards 1).
The media was running amok with the “Kate recycles! Meghan wears 20k pounds in a day!” headlines.
Love pillbox hats, but white is too nursey (as has been pointed out, Kate made the same error a few years back), and I am all for a bit of netting to make it look more sophisticated and less sterile. Mmm veils, little birdcage and blusher veils, definitely need to make a comeback.
Oh gosh, those birdcage veils were good. I was just old enough to need to wear a hat to church in the 60s but hated them. The veils were a great compromise. As were the tiny handkerchief things we could just stick on with a Bobby pin.
I actually don’t mind the hat, it’s the dress I don’t like! I’m not used to seeing royals in prints like that — the chain design makes it look cheap to me.
I laughed when I first saw the pics and saw how many buttons Kate had just because of the running joke on here, but I think she looks pretty.
Meghan’s dress and coat are lovely but the hat – yuck. As others have said, it is like an old-fashioned nurse’s cap and it ruins the look of the whole outfit. There are so many lovely styles of hat to choose from these days so words fail me on this one.
Kate looks good in her red outfit. I’m surprised there haven’t been more “thrifty Kate” stories as she is re-wearing a previous outfit and Meghan is (allegedly) wearing her second £9k outfit of the day.
The body language between William and Harry was strained, to put it mildly. If Meghan and Kate don’t get on privately, at least they are able to be cordial in public.
Yeah, the hat isn’t good. The outfit is, though.
Kate and her buttons look ridiculous. Get rid of that coat, Kate.
Ugh, why does she commission coats that are so chintzy?
i find all the comments regarding a hat and protocol curtsey fascinating. So many thoughts on the subjects.
The hat and the hair are how the Nursing (or sometimes Deaconess) Ministry at darn near every Black Baptist Church wears their hats and hair…so I’m LOVING the memories Meghan is provoking of blessed Sistas fanning you to keep away the hellfires while you in Church…
Yasssssss, to everything you said! That’s the first thing I thought when I saw Meghan’s hat and thought about the nurse’s ministry at my old church – New Temple Baptist Church. They would march up the aisles with fans and smelling salts whenever our members would shout after the spirit of the Holy Ghost fell upon them. It was evident to me that Duchess Meghan was making a subtle nod to her African-American heritage and I LOVE IT!
Amen Sista!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE your take, Lala & incognito, and the wonderfully funny, evocative and ‘fierce lady’ imagery it conjures up.
And because of it, I’m now 100% on the side of Meghan’s hat!
I watched the arrival video closely. I think everybody’s fine even Harry and Wills. I think Will is not so chuffed with Charles, but he engaged him one on one at the entrance also. The photos can convey a certain narrative, but in the video, everyone seems pretty cheerful and relaxed other than Andrew. And although she was smiling and lovely, I think HM looked a bit tired. The family group was skinnied down from last year — no HM cousins and Sophie was out of the country on business. Love DoS, but that hat is a “no from me, dawg.” And Kaiser apparently lives in my head, so the minute I saw Kate, I let out a hoot for the Duchess of Buttons. I enjoyed the event and seeing everyone. (Except Andrew, sorry.)
It’s 2019. How weird that one human being has to curtsy to another human being. Damn.
Loved everything except the hat.
The beef is definitely between the brothers. It’s been obvious for a while. Their body language was ice cold yesterday and at the Prince of Wales thing.
In that picture, Kate looks a decade older than Meghan. All that weight loss has done a number to her face. And the problem is definitely with the brothers. I’ve noticed that W&K go out of their way to be much more friendly to C&C than I remember them doing pre-Meghan. So their competitive streak made them work more to keep up with the Sussexes and repair their relationship with Charles.
Ruined? It’s beautiful stylish and bold thus it takes someone with a bit of style like Meghan to pull it off. I will take Meghan’s hat over Kate’s boring coat and buttons any time any day!
I think it’s a shame that the brothers appear to be fighting. Weren’t they very close up until quite recently? They always seemed like they got along really well, but sibling arguments (and rivalries) certainly happen.
That ole Meghan caused the riff between the brothers, is there nothing she won’t be blamed for?
Hat: No
Hemline of dress longer than coat: No
At the fifty years Investure anniversary, Willian and Kate were glued to Charles and Camilla also, it looked strange because usually they keep their distance.
Charles and Willian are both the jealous type, maybe that’s why Kate don’t rock the boat.
That hat looks like the one my 83 yr old nun-nurse aunt used to wear back when she worked at the psychiatric ward in Guadalajara.
Both ladies look quite lovely to me.
I find it interesting that the women are wearing the colours of the Canadian flag. Pure coincidence or did they decide it?
The hat is beautiful and so is she. I think it may have been an after thought though? Like her hair was done first and then there was the idea to put the hat on. A center part with it doesnt work as well as a swooping side bang. But honestly she looks better than every person I’ve seen this week so picking on her seems ludicrous.
I saw photos of the buttony coat last night and immediately thought of you, Kaiser! I’m a buttons defender, but even I can’t justify this one.
Pillbox hats should have gone when Jackie did.
I wanted to comment BEFORE I read a single comment. She looks like a nurse. All she’s missing is colorful crocks! LOL
I actually love the hat! It looks vaguely medieval to me, especially against the center parted dark hair. I think she looks beautiful.
Also, can we have a moment of silence for the fact that SHE’S LIKE 20 MONTHS PREGNANT AND WEARING STILETTOS ON COBBLESTONE!!!!!!!
I hate the hat, sorry to say it. So dated and awkward looking.
They are in church. Going without a hat and/or just putting a flower in your head would not be appropriate for the royal family. Criticize the style of the hat but suggesting she go without is not appropriate.
I went to a religious school, and we went to mass every morning. We kept a lace head covering in our desk drawer for this purpose, but as elementary kids we often forgot. I sat though hundreds of masses with a Kleenex on my head from the box the nuns kept by the door for such forgetfulness.
I went to Catholic school too and remember the lace “doilies,” and Kleenex substitutes. Fortunately, we hardly ever had to go to mass during the week.
As a nurse, I feel honored that she chose to highlight the profession by wearing a vintage nurse’s cap with her designer dress.
This hat is right up there with the poop emoji hat.
I had such high hopes for her style when she first came on the scene but apart from a handful of good outfits everything else is either meh or miss. And no being pregnant does not excuse that box on her head.
As for kate, that coat would be gorgeous minus the button extravaganza.
I’m kinda starting to hate the royals, overall. I used to ooh and ah, but now I feel so over them and their extravagant lives. We have some 68 million people in the world living as refugees and 800 million who are starving, according to just-googled statistics. Enough already with the buttons, the hats, the jewels. Royal family: What are you really worth?
I hear ya!
Kate’s dress. I counted the buttons. 30. Celebitchy should have a drinking buttons game, plus annual shoutout for outfit with most buttons. Games are fun.
MM’s hat. My first thought was why is she wearing a nurse’s hat. It was a pillbox fail. And I don’t like the outfit. Any of it. First, it was almost a direct copy of the couture MM wore earlier in the week. The white in the dress and the white in the coat didn’t match. The dress was too long and too full; it spilled out the front and under the coat. Chain dress. Really? Chain? And the clutch looked like a change purse. The shoes were Meh. Posh is not a designer. She doesn’t even copy well.
I did not appreciate the way William smirked and looked like he was going to laugh at the musician from Australia. Grow up, William!
Is it the worst hat ever? It’s like an enemy gave it to Meghan! It’s a kiss of death to anyone!
But yeah, I love how the press is all about Meghan & Kate and they do make an effort but the brothers don’t.
To be honest it must be really serious, they used to be so close and now they literally hate each other. Weird!
I also hated the white pillbox hat. I believe Meghan is trying to channel Jackie O with that hat. I’m sorry but there’s only one Jackie O. Meghan needs to stick to what works for her face and be a trailblazer in her own right.
What does a 1950’s nurse say to a 1950’s Flight Attendant… Hi Duchess! (uncle Joke)
We have Kate speaking to Meghan, William speaking to Harry and Charles/Camilla with hugs for all….British press is besides itself!
Love the hat, love the outfit, love the hair. She looks beautiful.
Turn away now Kaiser……..I counted them , there are 30 buttons on that coat , front, back and sleeves.
I was going to say that it looks like a nurse’s hat, but you beat me to the punch.
They only curtesy the first time in the day they see the higher ranking royal. All this means is that Kate saw Charles earlier.