This week, the hair was blowing on social media after royal critics accused Catherine, the Princess of Wales, of imitating Meghan Markle’s appearance during a recent royal event.
The princess turned heads on Wednesday when she wore her new fringe hairstyle in a low, loose bun during a visit to a learning center for children with learning disabilities in Sittingbourne, England.
However, fans of Markle lashed out at Catherine on X, formerly Twitter, accusing her of not only breaking royal protocol with this hairstyle, but also copying the American duchess’s “messy bun”.
Some fans have also pointed out that Markle was repeatedly criticized for this very hairstyle during her time as a working royal.
In a video posted on TikTok on September 27, royal commentator Amanda Matta compared several headlines comparing the princess and duchess’ similar hairstyles and pointed out the “double standards” she said the Duchess of Sussex faced .
Matta also shared screenshots of articles claiming that the royal family prefers women to style their hair perfectly smooth, with no hair falling over the face. According to Matta, Catherine received praise and Meghan criticized for the exact same hairstyle.
This is not the first time that there have been conflicting reports about the two royal women.
The news and entertainment platform BuzzFeed pointed out the various ways in which Catherine and Meghan’s pregnancies were reported in 2019.
In particular, British newspaper and tabloid magazine headlines accused the Duchess of Sussex of touching or rubbing her baby bump too much. This was in stark contrast to the way the Daily Mail reported on Princess Catherine’s pregnancy with Prince Louis a year earlier, with headlines such as “Pregnant Kate tenderly cradles her baby bump.”
This issue was also raised by the Duchess in her and Prince Harry’s sensational 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghanraised.
“When I joined this family, I knew there was a protocol for how things were done,” the mother of two explained to cameras.
“There is no class that a person goes to where they say; ‘Sit like this, cross your legs like this, use this fork, don’t do that, short then, wear this kind of hat,’” Meghan said.
“It did not happen. So I had to learn a lot myself.”
Sources: The Independent, People, Buzzfeed, The Daily Mail.
