Meghan dons strappy sandals during children's hospital gala

Meghan Markle attended the LA Children's Hospital gala on Saturday wearing a scarlet Carolina Herrera frock and co-ordinating high heeled strappy sandals.

Her barely-there shoes, which showed off her feet, marked a radical departure from the types of footwear she used to opt for.

It has been claimed in the past that the wife of Prince Harry 'hated' her feet, and she would usually wear long hemlines, heeled pumps, ballet flats, boots or trainers - meaning her toes were always hidden from view. 

In July this year, while attending the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, she donned a gown which was so long, it seemed that several inches at the bottom of the frock were dragging on the ground.

However, when she sat down, it was possible to catch a glimpse of her open-toed sandals, and what appeared to be an immaculate pedicure - though just one foot was visible.

Then just weeks later, while visiting Colombia with her husband Harry in mid-August, she again opted for open shoes - wearing two pairs of sandals, this time paired with shorter dresses, and showing her feet off to all. 

There has been much speculation about Meghan's feet, with some suggesting that she has often worn clothes that are several inches too long for her to hide them from public view.

While part of the Royal Family, there were only a small number of occasions where she was pictured wearing sandals, including once while visiting Samoa. 

Officially, it is believed that there is no specific 'royal rule' against wearing them, however, they are rarely sported during official engagements.

As etiquette expert William Hanson told Harper's Bazaar: 'Open-toed shoes are considered informal footwear, and inappropriate for formal occasions.'

At that point, whenever Meghan had carried out a public engagement with Prince Harry, she would would wear high heels.   

Before that 2018 royal tour, she was never seen in flats during royal engagements - even  on a sporty occasion such as visiting Dublin's Croke Park. 

Some speculated that the Duchess, who stands at 5ft 6in, would always don high shoes in an attempt to minimise the height difference with Harry, who is 6ft 1in, saying that the canny former actress would know how a height discrepancy between two people can create an 'unbalanced' look in pictures.

Speaking to Femail at the time, celebrity photographer Glenn Gratton told Femail: 'Couples with a big height difference look slightly unbalanced in pictures, and often the smaller of the two ends up looking even smaller and is constantly looking up at their partner.

'Rod Stewart and his wife penny have a large gap but this is minimised by rod wearing Cuban heels and penny not wearing super high heels.

'In the case of Harry and Meghan she will be wearing high heels to maximise her height and shorten the gap if possible.'

It has been claimed in the past that Meghan disliked her feet. One such claim came from an industry videographer who worked closely with the former Suits actress before she met she met Prince Harry.

Speaking in 2020, the videographer claimed that on set she had strict rules about never shooting her feet, and 'hated' them.

Another story about her dislike of her feet came from author Thomas Bower, who wrote about the subject in his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry And The War Between The Windsors.

Bower alleged that in the past, Meghan asked for her feet to be 'fixed' digitally in pictures after a photoshoot.

In 2015, Canada's largest women's clothing retailer Reitmans asked the then-Suits actress to be a brand ambassador. She then went onto design a capsule collection for the brand.

Following a photoshoot for Reitmans, Bower alleged that Meghan 'sent countless demands about changes to the colour of her lipstick and her waistline' during the post-production phase.

Another request, according to Bower, related to some open-toe sandals she was wearing.

It is claimed she emailed: 'Please fix my feet for me. I get slaughtered online for [sic] people picking apart my feet, sadly.'