To be fair, it’ll be a series of firsts for Royal Meghan in the coming year. This weekend it was her first Trooping as she and Prince Harry made their first public appearance together since returning from honeymoon. We were waiting for this. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we were waiting to see about where Meghan would be positioned on the Buckingham Palace balcony – would she occupy a second row position, according to succession, or would the royal family push her up front, the newest shiniest member? 

Looks like succession ruled the day with the exception of children. Meghan and Harry stood where Harry always stands during the Trooping the Colour fly past. That’s the spot he’s occupied for years and it may be a sign of the tone that the Sussexes will take going forward. Harry wants to set Meghan up for success. He would understand the narratives at play. No one wants to worry about any UK tabloid headlines claiming Meghan’s coming for Princess Kate’s spotlight. So they’re not giving up that photo.

The headlines, however, are all focused on whether or not it was offside for Meghan to be wearing an off-the-shoulder dress on the occasion. Apparently it’s a breach of protocol. What is the f-cking problem? There’s no cleavage showing. And you can only see half a shoulder on each side. Evidently this is an indication of moral decay. One minute Royal Meghan is wearing barely bare shoulders at Trooping the Colour and the next thing you know, they’ll be installing a stripper’s pole on the balcony. Can you curtsey when you’re on the pole? Because it’s not like she wasn’t showing proper respect to Her Majesty in her “scandalous pink” dress. 

In other Sussex news, Kensington Palace confirmed late last night that they will be going on tour in the fall: 

A formality, really. Everyone expected that they’d be at the Invictus Games in Sydney. I feel like we’ve already talked several times about them going to Australia. Meghan’s never been to Australia before. So, again, another first. 

Next up on Thursday: her first solo day with the Queen.