Meghan Markle Went Out With a Sartorial Bang
Earlier this month, Meghan Markle returned to the UK—and to the spotlight—for a farewell tour of sorts, one last round of engagements before she and Prince Harry officially transition out of their roles as senior royal at the end of March. And with each public event, the Duchess made a powerful statement with her clothes.
The royals are known for using fashion to underscore a broader context, whether its diplomatic or personal, and this time Meghan's intended meaning came through loud and clear: The Sussexes may be stepping back from royal life, but they are going to be just fine. Whatever's next, they're in it together.
Here, we break each of her final royal looks.
The back-on-the-scene blue dress.
After weeks of low-key living in Canada, Meghan returned to the public eye wearing a full face of dramatic makeup and a bold teal dress from Victoria Beckham, which popped against the evening's rainy backdrop.
"What a way to undo the last two months of negative press, and any criticism about what they are doing to just return so triumphantly," says Elizabeth Holmes, a journalist well-known for her popular #SoManyThoughts series on Instagram, where she provides commentary on the royals' sartorial choices.
Meghan's aesthetic choices were only amplified by photographer Samir Hussein's now-iconic photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex walking under an umbrella, still smiling and completely unbothered by the weather and torrent of camera flashes around them.
"It's a one in a million when all the elements you could wish for as a photographer come together—perfect timing, great lighting, strong symbolism and amazing subjects make this a magical photo I am extremely proud of," he told T&C.
The symbolic red Safiyaa gown.
Meghan and Harry subtly matched over the course of their entire visit to the UK, but at the Mountbatten Music Festival, that sartorial solidarity was front and center. Meghan's striking Safiyaa cape dress was almost the exact same shade of red as Prince Harry's dress uniform, which he was wearing in his final public appearance as Captain General of the Royal Marines.
This was no coincidence. Harry has had to give up all of his honorary military appointments as part of his agreement to step back from royal life, and he will no longer wear his uniform at public events. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make for the freedom he and Meghan sought, but by all accounts a painful one. It was a role he had wanted to maintain.
"Meghan appearing next to Harry in his uniform on the last day that he is wearing his uniform publicly—that was really powerful, and I think it showed real unity between them," Holmes says.
The Duchess's look was so popular with royal fans that it even crashed the website Meghan's Mirror, which chronicles Meghan's outfits. "Our servers just could not handle the amount of traffic," Christine Ross, the site's editor tells me.
"The look was so similar to her other Safiyaa gown, the long blue one she wore in Fiji, which was also hugely popular. It was smart that she returned to a look she knew the public would love and paired it with Harry's military uniform, which was an incredibly respectful gesture."
One final vibrant green look.
Meghan's cape dress at the Commonwealth Day Service was at once a high fashion statement and perhaps the most "royal" we've seen her look in quite a while.
In the months following her wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan dressed almost exclusively in shades of blush and beige, but this week's ensembles make it clear that she's been taking notes from her grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth.
The British monarch is known for only wearing vibrant shades. "I can never wear beige because nobody will know who I am," Robert Hardman, the Queen's biographer, once quoted her as saying. And on Monday, with a bright green dress and matching hat that nodded to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana, Meghan wanted everyone to know who she was: a senior member of the royal family, if only for a few weeks more weeks.
"This was her final senior engagement as a working royal. She went so bold, I really commend her for that," Holmes says.
And once again, Harry and Meghan were matching, only this time, their coordination was a bit more subtle. When a well-timed gust of wind lifted the hem of Prince Harry's jacket, eagle-eyed blogger Gerts Royals notice that the lining of his coat exactly matched Meghan's dress. It was another gesture of solidarity.
"It’s almost like they would knew that there would be a little gust of wind when they walked," Holmes says. "That kind of unity, matching in a photograph gives you a sense that the couple is together and they’re strong, people who are on the same wavelength. It felt very intentional. That kind of stuff does not happen by accident."
The dress also served as a bookend to Meghan's royal life.
"She chose that look so purposefully. It's so brightly colored, and such a beautiful green. She entered the this royal role in that green P.A.R.O.S.H dress for the engagement interview, and now she's leaving the role in a beautiful green Emilia Wickstead," Ross said.
That designer was also not accidental. By choosing a dress by Wickstead, who reportedly criticized Meghan's wedding gown very controversially, the Duchess is symbolically putting all the drama of the past behind her.
You Might Also Like
