The Hidden Meaning Behind Meghan Markle's Dress & Bracelet While Meeting Nelson Mandela's Widow

Louisa Ballhaus

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When you’re a royal, pretty much anything you decide to wear is sure to be recorded and analyzed for further meaning. Often, this is a fruitless endeavor — but it turns out Meghan Markle’s dress and bracelet did have a hidden meaning for Tuesday’s meeting with Nelson Mandela’s widow Graça Machel. Of course, any signals Meghan may have been trying to send take on new significance in light of Prince Harry’s announcement Tuesday that he and Meghan are suing The Times on Sunday for publishing a letter Meghan wrote to her estranged father. With that insight as to Meghan’s state of mind, let’s dive into her choice of attire — and why it may be significant.

When it comes to Meghan’s dress, the first thing we’ll note is that she’s worn it before. And while we personally don’t find the idea of a “re-wear” shocking, it’s fair to admit that it’s a rarer thing among royals, what with their deep pockets and awareness that they’re being photographed every single day. Meghan wore a Nonie Trench Dress to meet Machel, purposely taking the time to change into this outfit after wearing a white dress earlier that day.

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Interestingly, the last time Meghan wore this dress was also related to Nelson Mandela: a July 2018 exhibition marking 100 years since Mandela’s birth, at which Meghan and Harry met others linked to Mandela, including his granddaughter Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela. It’s unclear what, in particular, about this dress links it to Nelson Mandela in Meghan’s mind, but she’s obviously putting a lot of thought into these meetings, and it would surprise us if this were a total coincidence.

Here’s Meghan wearing the dress on Tuesday:

And here she is wearing it in 2018:

As for Meghan’s bracelet: It’s a dainty, silver chain that could almost have gone unnoticed, were the Duchess not so carefully scrutinized from head to toe. Royal reporter Elizabeth Holmes noted on Instagram that a tiny evil eye charm hangs from the bracelet, as Cosmopolitan reports. They’ve identified the bracelet as being from Alemdara, and the site says this about the charm: “An evil eye on your person wards off any ‘evil eye’ or jealousy from others, such are their ability to dispel negative thoughts and energy.” So, Meghan’s looking for a way to dispel negative thoughts and energy, eh? If that happens to have anything to do with the lawsuit, it’s shady as hell — and we love it.

Here’s a close-up of the bracelet (and can we please appreciate that matching nail shade?!):

Ultimately, it seems like a lot of intent went into Meghan’s look for Tuesday. But even if it didn’t? She still looks fabulous, and we could all do with a little less negative energy — whether we’re waging war against a bullying campaign in the media or just hanging out at home, following along.

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