21 of the Royals’ Most Unforgettable Fashion Faux Pas

In one of her first appearances after having Prince George, Kate was seemingly a little out of practice when it came to following engagement dress protocols. She forgot a belt for her outfit, a faux pas made worse by the fact that she was supposed to play volleyball at the event. Needless to say, Kate spent a lot of time tugging her pants up instead.

The Duchess of Sussex's slender stilettos slid right into the grass before this event, so she had to walk up the stairs with muddy heels. It's all the more noticeable because the shoes are black. Good thing the rest of Meghan's look was impeccable enough to make up for the fashion faux pas.

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Perhaps no one dislikes the wind as much as the Duchess of Cambridge, who's dealt with her skirt blowing up on several occasions since she became a royal. There have been rumors over the years that Kate's skirts have weights sewn into them to prevent this, but it happens often enough that we're not so sure that's true. It would probably be a good thing for her to invest in, though.

At least Kate's not the only royal to suffer a windy wardrobe malfunction. At Princess Charlotte's christening, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, had to deal with a particularly blustery day. She decided to put one hand on her hat to hold it in place and to keep her skirt down by holding her purse against it. Clever.

Queen Elizabeth is such a pro at being royal, and she takes protocol and rules so seriously. That's why she's almost never seen committing any type of faux pas. But on one occasion in 2010, she spilled her dinner all down her dress, and she just had to roll with it. It's not even a discreet stain!

The dress stain wasn't the only fashion faux pas for the Queen that night. The silver chain strap on her bag also broke, making it difficult for her to carry for the rest of the evening. We don't know what it was about June 2, 2010, but it just wasn't Elizabeth's day. Talk about bad luck.

Maybe Harry thought guests were also supposed to wear something old when they attended a wedding, because his shoes have seen some serious wear. Looking closely, there's a literal hole in the sole and they're super muddy. Maybe that wouldn't have mattered much any other time, but he's at a formal event! He should have sprung for a new pair of shoes.

Maybe we should just be glad that the princes were apparently taught to be frugal and rewear their stuff to the point of it falling apart. William was also caught with a hole in his shoe during the World Economic Forum in 2019. It was super noticeable because he was sitting down on a stage. Whoops!

When Meghan stepped off the plane in Tonga, eagle-eyed fans noticed that a price tag was still attached to the hem of her dress. Maybe she was planning on returning the item after a quick appearance in it? If she did, she would have made about $450 back. Not too shabby.

There are few faux pas greater than showing up to an event wearing the same thing as someone else there. That's exactly what happened to Kate at a 2014 wedding when she and another guest both wore identical blue Missoni coatdresses. (We bet the other guest felt worse about the whole situation than Kate.) Next time, everyone should have to cross-reference outfits to avoid stealing the duchess' thunder.

Most of the time, Prince Philip wore pants to events — which meant he could sit any way he pleased — but when he wore a kilt to the Highland Games in Scotland in 2012, he seemed to forget that he was essentially wearing a skirt. Unfortunately for everyone, he wasn't sitting in quite the appropriate manner. Maybe Kate should have taught him the duchess slant.

Meghan broke protocol all the time when she was a working royal, including by frequently ignoring one of the Queen's major dress code rules. "[Wearing nude stockings is] really the only hard, steadfast rule in terms of what the Queen requires," royal commentator Victoria Arbiter told Insider. Meghan frequently went bare-legged.

On a visit to a Mahatma Gandhi museum in India, Kate and William removed their shoes out of respect. The internet was quick to jump on Kate for not having polish on her toes. Maybe Kate didn't know she was going to have to take her shoes off that day, or maybe she was just following the nude nail polish rule the Queen has.

Some people took issue with how much Meghan's wedding dress wrinkled due to what they believed was an excess of fabric. But as Harper's Bazaar pointed out, the dress was made of such a thick fabric, it had to be cut a little looser to allow Meghan to move about during her ceremony. We're gonna hazard a guess that a dress like that, which was to be seen by millions around the world, was fitted exactly the way Meghan wanted.

During an appearance at the St. Patrick's Day parade in 2013, a pregnant Kate got stuck when her heel caught in a grate. Luckily, William was right there to give his wife a helping hand as she bent down to free herself. The duchess was able to laugh about the moment, and it was definitely a funny faux pas!

A lot of people don't know this one, so we can't really fault Meghan for it — but it was definitely a mistake that she left the "x" stitch on the bottom of her new coat. After purchase, the wearer is supposed to cut that stitch out to let the jacket flaps separate. If Meghan herself didn't know, then her stylist should have caught it. Oops.

The Duchess of Cambridge's sheer-paneled dress was a little more see-through than she intended, because the paparazzi camera flashes made her nude undergarments show a bit through the black fabric. Many women have experienced this when taking photos at night in a black outfit, so Kate shouldn't feel too bad. Happens to the best of us.

People already didn't like the looser fit of Meghan's wedding dress, and they absolutely roasted her for the garment she wore to Harry's cousin's wedding. The Oscar de la Renta gown had such a pretty pattern, but some felt that it was drowning Meghan in fabric. She seems to have just embraced the oversized trend that has been appearing on all the runways.

According to Harper's Bazaar, this purple Gucci top was supposed to have its buttons down the back of the blouse, but when Kate wore it, the buttons were on the front. Sure, this may have been a case of Kate altering an outfit for her own needs, or she may have just gotten mixed up. We'll call it a deliberate fashion choice, though, because it doesn't look bad.

The stunning Roland Mouret dress that Kate wore to the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in 2022 turned a lot of heads, but she could have ended up in a bit of a blunder on the red carpet. According to what luxury fashion rental service Front Row told Hello! magazine, one of their clients rented the same dress to wear to that exact event, meaning that since Kate hadn't put a moratorium on anyone else wearing the gown, she could have run into someone twinning with her while cameras were rolling.

Meghan was on the receiving end of a lot of flak in 2021 when she and Harry visited a school in Harlem, New York, where the majority of the children are from low-income families. To the visit, she wore a designer outfit that totaled more than $10,000 between her Loro Piana cashmere coat and matching pants, leading to critics accusing her of flaunting her wealth in front of children whose families may be struggling. It seems people think she should have worn something a bit more low-key.