Meghan Markle Ditched the Heels and Changed Into Flats During Her First Royal Tour Appearance

Generally speaking, a first trimester and a 76-appearance-strong royal tour aren’t the most easily compatible of situations, but pregnant Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) is ready to take a good swing at it. On the same day that she and Prince Harry announced that they’re expecting a baby in the spring of next year (opens in new tab), the royal couple also embarked on the first date of their highly anticipated joint tour of Australia (opens in new tab).

At least 12 weeks into her pregnancy already, Meghan is clearly prepared to make some changes to her wardrobe to keep things as comfortable as possible during their time down under. The Duchess was even spotted ditching her signature heels today, in favor of a pair of flats for (admirably) the first time since picking up her role in the royal family. Sigh, her poor toes.

Meghan has always been entirely dedicated to the importance of a good heel. No seriously, she even wears them slightly too big for a genius reason (opens in new tab) and during past appearances, she’s impressively played ball and navigated soccer pitches in stilettos (opens in new tab). But, when she and husband Harry arrived at Taronga Zoo on Tuesday to hang out with a koala (opens in new tab) for the afternoon, the ultra-rare sight of the Duchess of Sussex in a pair of simple black flats was noted by reporter, Elizabeth Holmes.

Hey, who can blame her? It's completely relatable—I'm already exhausted just looking at the photos of the couple's non-stop schedule, and it's hard to imagine how tired mom-to-be Meghan must be right now.

Usually, with Meghan standing at 5ft 6in, while Harry towers over her at 6ft 1in - seven inches taller, the Duchess opts without fail for a higher heel, apparently in order to avoid creating an ‘unbalanced’ look between the couple in pictures. Earlier in the day, Meghan stepped out in a pair of her favorite nude suede heels (opens in new tab) as usual to meet with Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove and his wife, Lady Cosgrove. But, now that she's carrying her first child and showing very early signs of a baby bump, it seems a good an excuse as any to finally ditch the uncomfortable shoes for something more casual.

And if this is the official go ahead for us to all ditch formal heels forever, I'm very much okay with that.