Meghan Markle Rubs Salt In Royal Wound With 'Inauthentic' Accessory That Won't Mend Fences

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex's pantyhose have everyone's pantyhose in a bunch. The former royal recently wore sheer black tights while on a trip to Australia with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Now, netizens are calling attention to her previous commentary about the accessory. And the suggestion that she's being a hypocrite surely won't get her back in the royals' good graces.

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On "The Circuit with Emily Chang" last year, Meghan got attention when she spoke about a particular type of hosiery that she was pressured to wear. It was a royal fashion rule she couldn't stand. "I hadn't seen pantyhose since movies in the '80s," she said, adding, "That felt a little bit inauthentic." To be fair, plenty of us haven't worn pantyhose since the '80s. Yet, since royals often wear skirts and prefer not to go bare-legged, pantyhose are big among those following royal rules. Meghan, of course, was often known for breaking royal rules, and she did just that on several occasions when she scandalously styled her skirt with bare knees. She went without pantyhose during her engagement announcement and further horrified royalists when she repeated the offense after she had married into the royal family. Now, on April 16, Meghan styled her olive green minidress with a pair of black tights while speaking at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology. As usual, she's getting backlash online, and this is another thing that likely doesn't bode well for her and Harry's apparent royal return aspirations. 

"Omg not the PANTYHOSE!" one X user wrote alongside a photo of Meghan Markle's tights-centric ensemble. They joked, "The pure horrors that she was expected to wear them on working engagements." "The hypocrisy is staggering but it shows that SHE thinks [their trip to Australia is] a royal tour," someone commented. "MM lies so much about everything that she's lost track of all the lies she's told," one commenter added.

Meghan has surely come to expect getting roasted online for anything she might do. It's worth noting, however, that there is a big difference between sheer black tights and nude pantyhose. You would be hard-pressed to find most fashionistas wearing nude pantyhose in 2026 — save, of course, for Catherine, Princess of Wales, who wears them to obey royal rules. For most people these days, wearing a look that includes bare legs usually means you'll sport bare legs. Black tights, on the other hand, never seem to go out of style. Whether you like Meghan's outfit, though, is a different story. One commenter wrote, "Looks like she's wearing a trash bag." So, was this a good fashion statement? That's up for debate. But are her tights a sign of hypocrisy? We don't think so. Either way, this isn't the best way to get the royal family back on her side if that really is her and Prince Harry's goal.