Prince Harry on Wardrobe Malfunction During Meghan Markle’s First-Ever Walkabout: ‘The Whole Thing Was Ridiculous’
TL;DR:
- Prince Harry revealed Meghan Markle’s zipper broke during her first “walkabout” in December 2017, calling it “ridiculous.”
- Prince Harry also shared how he solved the wardrobe malfunction with a safety pin.
- Meghan Markle recalled Prince Harry being nearby “with scissors” ready to “cut tags” off of clothing before “walkabouts.”
Long before their surprise walkabout after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry embarked on a royal first. That is the Duchess of Sussex’s debut “walkabout” where British royals greet crowds. According to the Duke of Sussex, his wife’s first walkabout didn’t exactly go as planned due to a wardrobe malfunction.
Meghan Markle didn’t know what walkabouts were before her first one in December 2017
In Netflix’s Harry & Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched on many topics, including Meghan’s introduction to royal life. Between learning to curtsy moments before meeting Harry’s grandmother, the queen, and discovering hugs don’t happen regularly, Meghan got a crash course in walkabouts.
“I never saw pictures or videos of a walkabout,” Meghan said before recalling she’d asked, “Like, what’s a walkabout?’”
Harry did his best to explain royal life. However, even he admitted there were certain things, namely royal fashion, that weren’t his expertise.
“I could talk her through as much as I knew from my own experience of what I’d seen,” Harry told Netflix. “The piece I really didn’t know about was the style, right, and what a woman needed to, how they needed to dress and all that.’”
Meghan Markle’s zipper broke moments before her first walkabout
On Dec. 1, 2017, just a few days after their engagement announcement, Harry and Meghan headed to Nottingham, England. There Meghan participated in her first walkabout alongside her now-husband.
As the couple recalled, the experience was somewhat stressful. Meghan agonized over every aspect of her outfit while Harry stood by with scissors ready to remove tags.
“You’d be there with the scissors like, ‘Guys, be ready. We have five minutes.’ And I was like, ‘Should I wear these earrings? Are these a British designer? I just ordered these online. Is this good? Wait, my tag’s on. Cut the tag.’”
For the occasion, Meghan wore a camel Joseph midi skirt, a black Wolford turtleneck bodysuit, and a navy Mackage coat (via What Meghan Wore). The now-mother of two finished off her look with black suede boots from Kurt Geiger, a Strathberry handbag, and an Aritzia belt.
“And then the zip breaks,” Harry recalled. “The whole thing was just ridiculous.” From there, Meghan chimed in, explaining what happened next. “And he’s like, ‘OK, babe, safety pin. Just safety pin it.’”
“’Ready?’” she remembered him asking to which she said, “‘Yeah.’” One “‘OK'” from Harry later, and they “just sort of went with it.”
Prince Harry thought, ‘what a dream,’ after Meghan Markle’s first walkabout
Despite Meghan’s zipper breaking, Harry thought her first walkabout went great. “I thought to myself, ‘What a dream … I’ve found someone that not necessarily finds this easy but is able to do it and make it look easy,’” he said.
Not only was Harry pleased with how Meghan handled the walkabout, but he noticed the public’s reaction had also been positive. “Everybody was just so excited and pleased and happy,” he recalled. “And I think people looked at it and went, ‘Wow, what a breath of fresh air.’”
Harry would go on to warn Meghan about “doing too well” during their 2018 royal tour, a tour which he said changed their relationship with the royal family.
