Meghan Markle is catching flack for her outfit and being compared to Kate Middleton yet again!
Meghan has stayed mostly out of the public eye since giving birth to baby Archie in May. She has made only three appearances since then.
First, she showed up to Trooping the Colour to celebrate the Queen's birthday, where fans speculated that she got into a tiff with Prince Harry.
Then she made a surprise appearance at a baseball game with Harry.
And most recently, Meghan showed up to support one of her closest friends, Serena Williams, at Wimbledon.
Interestingly enough, Meghan showed up two days after Kate Middleton went. That's a notable departure from last year, when the two duchesses attended Wimbledon together.
They also had completely different vibes at the event. Kate wore a modest white dress and sat in the royal box, while Meghan wore jeans and a hat and did not sit in the royal box.
Of course, royal fans have a LOT to say on the subject.
In case you didn't know, Wimbledon is a pretty fancy event, which is why it's a natural fit for members of the royal family.
There is a strict dress code, especially for those who sit in the royal box.
Last year, Meghan and Kate attended Wimbledon together. They sat in the royal box, and they were all smiles. People speculated about how they were going to become BFFs. Man, that feels like forever ago!
This year — after a year's worth of feud rumors between the Sussexes and the Cambridges — Kate and Meghan attended Wimbledon on completely different days.
Kate went to watch Roger Federer, and two days later, Meghan went to watch her pal Serena Williams.
Naturally, fans speculated that this was yet another sign of a rift between the two duchesses. But that wasn't the only sign of separation between Meghan and Kate at Wimbledon.
Their outfits were also completely different, and royal commentators say that Meghan actually broke the dress code, while Kate adhered to it.
Kate wore a white button-down dress with sunglasses.
And Meghan wore jeans and a hat, which is apparently against Wimbledon dress code.
Meghan didn't sit in the royal box, either, unlike Kate. Instead, she sat "in a private capacity" in Court One.
Some sources even say that Meghan was barred from sitting in the royal box because of her outfit.
"She wanted to come incognito but there were problems," a source told the Times.
"They couldn't invite her into the royal box because she was wearing jeans but that didn't really matter because all she wanted to do was come and watch Serena."
"She's not allowed to wear jeans," another veteran club member told the outlet.
It wasn't just about the jeans. Meghan's hat, too, was supposedly not up to code. Hats are not encouraged at Wimbledon — last year, Meghan was photographed holding her hat rather than wearing it. But this year, she had it on her head.
On the other hand, a palace source told the Times that Meghan never tried to sit in the royal box in the first place.
She "had no intention of going to the royal box," the source said.
Perhaps that's why she wore that outfit — so she could go cheer on her friend like a normal person?
But the dress code also applies more loosely to the other attendees of Wimbledon, even those who do not sit in the royal box. There are no official guidelines re: dress code on the Wimbledon website, but "dressing smartly is encouraged, especially if frequenting Centre Court or Court One," Evening Standard reports.
Maybe Meghan's outfit really was inappropriate for attending a Wimbledon event. Then again, we know that Meghan has a history of drawing criticism for her every move, regardless of how fair it is. So who knows?
It wasn't just her outfit that caught flack at Wimbledon. Sources also complained about Meghan's behavior; they said she was a "nightmare."
Again, this sounds familiar … like that time Meghan was randomly accused of being rude to Kate's staff, sparking months of alleged feuding? The palace had to finally debunk that story as false, but Meghan's "reputation" as a diva has never quite gone away.
The negative rumors and harassment are so bad that people have attempted to speak up in Meghan's defense multiple times, including her friends and even Prince Harry.
It's clear that a lot of British royal fans aren't big fans of Meghan, so one has to take these critical stories about her with a grain of salt.
Besides, she looked great at Wimbledon, and it looks like she had a great time watching her friend play, which is what really matters!
