Since her relationship with Prince Harry became public in 2017, Meghan Markle has been one of the most influential royal fashion figures in history.
From the height of her royal popularity on her wedding day to the landmark interview undertaken with Oprah Winfrey and triumphant return to Britain for the platinum jubilee celebrations, Meghan has communicated messages of strength and power through her dress.
Throughout her adult life the duchess has demonstrated a keen control over the way she dresses, a control she maintained after marrying into the royal family.
Court documents submitted in relation to a privacy lawsuit filed against a national newspaper in 2021 revealed that Meghan prides herself on not using a stylist, instead carefully curating her wardrobe to reflect her own message.
Here, Newsweek looks at how Meghan has styled herself for her most high-pressure public events:
Wedding Day
Meghan Markle's wedding day to Prince Harry in May 2018 saw the couple watched by 1.9 billion people worldwide.
For the grand occasion held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Meghan broke with royal conventions for her dress. Firstly she chose to wear white, despite this being her second marriage, and secondly she did not choose to patronize a British fashion house for the design.
It has been traditional for royal brides to buy British for their wedding dresses since the reign of Queen Victoria, who believed that members of the royal family had a duty to promote the interests of British industry. Meghan, as a non-British bride, was not as closely bound to convention as other members of the family and she commissioned British-born Clare Waight Keller to make her dress from the French fashion house Givenchy.
The design of the dress itself was to feature many of the style signatures Meghan has carried through to other high-profile looks during her marriage. These include a strong silhouette with clean lines and minimal embellishment, as well as simplistic styling in terms of hair, makeup and jewelry.
Presenting Archie to the Public
Perhaps the next most high-pressure event that Meghan faced as a royal, after her marriage, was the presentation of her first-born child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to the press at Windsor Castle just two days after his birth.
After nearly a year of marriage, Meghan had followed the strong and simplistic aesthetic tone set by her wedding dress and for this occasion at Windsor Castle with her husband and newborn son, she wore a white trenchcoat-inspired dress with statement buttons.
The dress was made by young British designer Grace Wales Bonner, who graduated from London's prestigious Central Saint Martins fashion college in 2014.
Meghan has worn this style of trenchcoat-inspired dress on a number of occasions. It went somewhat against convention for the first official presentation of a royal baby in that it was sleeveless.
Again, in terms of styling the duchess abided by her simplistic aesthetic pairing her dress with nude suede heels by Manolo Blahnik and small diamond stud earrings.
Commonwealth Day 2020
The commonwealth day service at Westminster Abbey in 2020 was an extremely high-pressure event for Meghan and Harry as it marked their last official engagement as full-time working members of the royal family.
The service followed the turbulent period dubbed by the press as "Megxit" and polarizing reporting surrounded the couple's decision to move to North America.
For the event Meghan wore a striking green ensemble made by a royal favorite dress designer, Emilia Wickstead. The emerald green dress was bold and simple in terms of embellishment, notable for its asymmetric draped cape element over one shoulder.
The royal paired the look with matching accessories, including a green beret-style hat with large dramatic veil.
The outfit, though simplistic in design, contained added elements of drama that were not evident in the duchess' earlier wardrobe choices. The choice of this strength and drama for the look worn to end this stage of her royal life did not go unnoticed by the press.
Oprah Interview March 2021
After the drama of Harry and Meghan's stepping down from official royal duties, the couple enjoyed a period of quiet adjustment with their son in Santa Barbara, California. Following this the decision was made to give a landmark interview to Oprah Winfrey, a Santa Barbara neighbor, about their experiences as members of the royal family and with the U.K tabloid press.
For the interview Meghan made one of the most important fashion choices of her life, a dress she would become so closely associated with that a British fashion museum named it dress of the year.
The look chosen by Meghan was a black Giorgio Armani long-sleeved dress with a stylized white floral print element on one shoulder and a cloth-covered black belt.
The duchess paired the look with black suede heels and layered sentimental gold and diamond jewelry.
Invictus Games 2022
Meghan's first visit to Europe since stepping down as a full-time working royal was made for the 2022 Invictus Games in The Netherlands. Though the duchess did stop over in Britain to visit Queen Elizabeth II with Harry, the couple were not photographed and it was not a public visit.
For the first outing of the Invictus Games 2022 Meghan wore an elegant white pantsuit by designer Valentino. The double-breasted look was made in the relaxed fit style with flared trousers and longline blazer.
Meghan wore this outfit with minimal jewelry, a smokey-eyed makeup look and white accessories.
National Service of Thanksgiving, Platinum Jubilee
Following the trend of wearing white to some of her most high-pressure events, Meghan wore an all-white power look to her first official royal event back in Britain since her move to America during the queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The royal wore a custom Christian Dior coat dress and matching accessories with a sculpted 1980s-style hat to the national service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral during the central weekend of jubilee celebrations.
Meghan's bold choice of outfit saw her stand out among the extended royal family who were mostly wearing pastel or summer colors.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
