I’m exhausted on Meghan’s behalf, and I’m not even gestating a royal polo baby. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had a full day of activities in Suva, Fiji today (Wednesday). Meghan wore the same printed dress for all of the activities – this is an off-the-rack dress from the label Figue. It’s a silk boho-style dress which retails for $1495. I like the print, and I love seeing this bright pink on Meghan, it’s super-flattering with her coloring. That being said, I’m not crazy about the design of the dress, with the ruffles and the pom-pom belt. Now, I’m sure it was selected because it’s a looser wrap dress and Meghan didn’t know if her bump was really going to “pop” during this trip, so she packed some looser stuff which could accommodate her bump at any size. She did carry a clutch purse made by a local female-owned vendor. Meghan also – GASP – wore those Castañer wedge espadrilles again, the same pair she wore on Bondi Beach. Buttons, wedges and skirts with leg slits, oh my!
Meghan was due to undertake a solo trip in Savu by going to the local market to meet with female small-business entrepreneurs. Meghan actually made it to the market for a few minutes before her security made her leave – the crowds were too much:
Meghan Markle‘s first solo engagement in Fiji did not go to plan. While Prince Harry visited a local forest on Wednesday, Meghan paid a visit to a market to meet with female vendors, who greeted their special guest with cheers and roaring applause. The mother-to-be was at the Suva market to learn about a UN Women’s project, “Markets for Change,” which promotes women’s empowerment in marketplaces throughout the South Pacific.
However, Meghan’s tour was cut short due to crowd management issues, a Kensington Palace representative told the Associated Press. Meghan was expected to spend up to 20 minutes in the marketplace, however, the royal mom-to-be was only there for less than half of the time before getting rushed away from the large crowd that came to greet her at, and inside, the market.
I feel like the security concerns were probably legit, especially considering it was an open-air market and Meghan’s security wouldn’t be able to really do “crowd control.” It sucks that Meghan didn’t get to meet all of the female vendors though.
Meghan also made a speech! Here’s the text of the speech:
#Meghan gave an impressive speech this am in Fiji about everyone having the right to an education & said she had funded herself through Northwestern and “without question it was worth every effort”. First public speech as member of royal family (‘Together’ was a thanks)👇🏻👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/FCMtUcPaHw
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) October 24, 2018
It sort of just occurred to me that Harry doesn’t have a college/university education. He graduated from Eton (with a lot of help) and he went to Sandhurst, but he doesn’t have a university degree. Meghan is the more educated one in the marriage. Last thing: HARRY’S ISLAND SHIRT.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
She looks gorgeous, but Harry looks ridiculous. I appreciate the effort though
She looks great in the color, but noooooo! Pompom belt??? Flounces on the too short skirt??? Yuck. Looks like the blue and white tablecloth dress she woreto the wedding. Sorry, but a miss for me, esp. with the b/w patterened purse.
Love me some Meghan, but this is a big fail for me, other than color. From the empire waist area up, gorgeous, chest down, sorry!
@jan – I agree – don’t like this dress at all – overpriced curtains… It seems she is also now wearing her version of the wedges of doom also?! Ugh.
Agree. Don’t like the dress and the black wedges are too heavy for the dress. Love Meghan though.
I think it could have worked without the pompoms, and with nude or beige colored shoes that are a bit more dainty.
How does Harry look ridiculous? Meghan looked nice but i would have preferred it if she had worn a dress made from Fijian material, similar to the lovely blue bula cotton shirt that Harry wore. The dress looks as though the material is synthetic, which is not suitable for the tropics.
I don’t think Harry looks ridiculous, either. Most VIP visitors wear the same type of shirt when attending casual events in Fiji. I love that rich pink colour on Meghan, but wish she’d pin back those two rats’ tails hanging down the sides of her face.
The dress is silk, as per article above.
It’s nice minus the pom-pom belt, that’s too much for me.
I love my Espadrilles in the summer, they are great looking and comfy, I have three pairs and one looks almost identical to Meghan’s.
I don’t think they look anything like the huge looking hoof wedges that Kate wears.
Thank you AnnaKist!! Those things bug the sh!t out of me, I find myself putting my hair behind my ear when I see her hair like that! I still love these two though.
Her hanging hair pieces are contrived to look casual or whatever but they are getting stale already. They have to be annoying but for some reason she must think they look good.
As a person with a hair type similar to Meg’s, I think the middle part with tendrils tucked behind the ear (mostly) is fine. It probably does get annoying if there’s a hard wind, but with “ethnic” hair, you can expect it to stay put for the most part — even ethnic hair that can and will shift in a breeze.
I notice she gets a lot of flack for fidgeting with her hair, but it’s something I do, too, when my hair is straight and moving around a lot about my face. It’s different from what you’d do while lounging at home, and you’re more aware of it, somehow. It’s not something I worry about so much when I wear my natural wavy curls — which is the vast majority of the time — unless it gets in my mouth. Her hair seems really healthy, and I one-hundo percent get the look she’s going for, especially as she may be eschewing chemical straightening treatments (if those were her thing) because of the baby, so I think people should let her be.
harry is in full Vacation Dad Mode and i LOVE IT. that said u right, his look is….. subpar. megs looks great though tbh i don’t really get the hate on this dress???
The dress is cute! I’d only take off the pom poms. And the local bag is a nice touch (plus it’s also cute). One of the royal reporters (Emily Andrews) questioned the decision to leave the market and is getting a lot of hate spewed at her 🙁
I wasn’t very impressed at some of the royal reporters on twitter. If I was in Meghan’s position and my security says we need to leave, I’m bloody leaving because they know what to look for better than I do!
There were a lot of people there, definitely a lot more than expected, both inside and outside the market and there were reports of people climbing in the roof, so I can understand the concern. Crowd control is very difficult and there is risk to everyone there, not just Meghan.
I didn’t see hate at the time, unless things have really blown up overnight.
It is not an open air market which suggests the advance team got it wrong on crowd control.
I didn’t see hate, I saw people who were irked by her shoddy “reporting”. Emily didn’t even talk about the reason why Meghan left in her initial tweet and implied that it was Meghan’s fault/choice to leave. It was a good hour before she even mentioned security control so I think the criticism she got was warranted.
There were some nasty comments on The Sun’s website. And apparently they weren’t immediately told why she was leaving and then the story changed a few times.
@Cate Rebecca English was at the scene as well and she (along with other reporters present) immediately tweeted that Meghan was leaving for security reasons. Yes, she and a few others editorialized in their reporting, but they were immediately given a reason and relayed that info accordingly. Emily chose to withhold that information.
Yes, Emily’s reporting was really bad. She shouldn’t get hate or abuse tweeted at her, but she should be held accountable for the poor reporting. Rebecca English immediately tweeted about the security concerns (With some snarky comment about it being an “overreaction” but at least she mentioned the actual reason.) Even now Emily is doubling down and insisting there weren’t any issues.
I think this market matter was unfortunate and occurred either because the reconnaissance team did not do their job properly in checking out the market or/and because the Fiji security/police underestimated the crowd. I saw an ordinary woman right beside the car carrying Meghan trying to take a picture with her cell phone. Even in the UK nobody gets that close to the royals when they are getting in and out of cars. There were definite lapses with the planning.
In terms of the crowd numbers , crowd control was zero. A random woman was even trying to take a selfie with Meghan through the window of the car. But Meghan handled everything with poise and grace, and had earlier given a very good speech at the university.
Seemed to me that her reporting was fine. They actually weren’t immediately told it was due to security reasons, just that the visit would be cut short. And multiple journos seemed to think everything was calm and not a big deal.
The multiple journo’s don’t have a lot of training in either security or crowd control.
@cate. I looked at the timestamps on the tweets. Rebecca English knew about the security concerns and Andrew Hough confirmed that it seemed chaotic outside. Andrew stepped in to lend some support to Emily during the backlash but overall I question why Emily didn’t know when other reporters did. It does seem like she deliberately omitted information in her first two tweets which were an hour apart and didn’t mention security concerns at all (and the other reporters knew by then) rather than Kensington Palace not informing the press that it was a security matter.
And so far I’ve seen no backup that Kensington Palace changed their story like Emily is saying. I guess they’ll talk about it in the next On Heir.
Emily made things worse by tweeting some footage inside the market implying that it wasn’t that crowded and Meghan didn’t need to leave. It is also incorrect to say she didn’t meet with the women as originally planned. She did, it was just cut short. The footage outside the market showed the crowds being much more intense.
Even if the security people were overreacting, this in no way should be Meghan’s fault. She doesn’t determine security issues and has to listen to them.
Twitter peeps went after Emily pretty hard, but she was wrong to imply that the crowds weren’t a big deal and should have backed down from that.
I saw the replies to some of these reporters’ tweets and her fans need to calm down. It’s seriously embarrassing seeing grown up women reacting to strangers in that way.
I would LOVE the dress if it didn’t have the pom-poms. Its really pretty and I bet its gorgeous in person. But the pom-poms!!
Also, we all know how I feel about espadrilles.
I’m getting annoyed with people on twitter (looking at you, Rebecca English) who implied that the security concerns were an overreaction or even code for Meghan wanting to leave. She was literally there 5 minutes. It wasn’t like she was there for 2 hours, got bored, and they made up “security concerns” to get her out of there. It seems pretty legit to me.
I love the espadrilles! Why espadrille hate? They look better than that hideous dress!
Espadrilles often look clunky and unflattering.
@manda I just don’t like them! It’s a personal thing. I think they semi-work with that dress, as much as espadrilles can work with anything, but I just don’t like them. I agree with @dietcokehead that they often look clunky.
The espadrilles in a lighter colour (maybe picking out the blue in the dress and pompoms?) would have clinched it imho. Black is a little heavy with a fun dress, although I have nothing against espadrilles personally!
I don’t hate them, but they are one of those shoes that has to be carefully deployed. It’s a shoe that can easily look clunky (which is fine with some outfits and not others), especially if you have big feet. You have to know which looks it works with and which won’t.
@manda :
I don’t get the Espadrilles hate either, they are not clunky at all in my opinion.
I have 4 pairs and they are wonderful for summer with my summer dresses, great fun.
They certainly don’t look anything like Kate’s hoof wedges that are 4 inches of solid thick heel, made of some plastic material.
I like this dress, but without the pom-pom belt.
It’s over the top with pompoms.
I love espadrilles too, Manda, and I wear them a lot in the summer. But I do think these espadrilles in black were too heavy looking with that bright, lightweight silk dress. If they’d been in a lighter color, I think they’d have been fine.
All that said, no matter what anyone might think of the dress, its fabric and color were gorgeous on Meghan and she looked so pretty. Her skin was glowing.
I love the varied takes on espadrilles! I agree they sometimes look bad, but I thought these were particularly cute. I do see how possibly black wasn’t the bed color, but I really like the wrap around the ankle, so I think that outweighs it for me. I agree that I probably would have worn a sandal with that dress and not those shoes, but I still think those shoes are cute. I think I’ve always been pro-espadrille, my mom wore them all the time when I was a kid and they just remind me of her <3
She looks adorable! I don’t mind the shoes with that dress. The woman walking next to her on the 3rd picture looks lovely, too.
I like the dress but I’m not a huge fan of pom poms on clothing. The pom poms on her dress aren’t overwhelming but I would have had them removed before I wore it. She does look lovely like she always does.
Love the dress, pompoms and all. Fun! If only it were affordable now…
Me too and I really adore her pom-pom belt – they’re used on traditional Scandinavian woven belts and on Moroccan clothes & accessories, among other cultures. Why so much hate? “Tacky”??? wtf. They’re traditional and lovely.
I love the bright color on her, but that tacky pom pom belt and shoes need to go. Harry is dressed like an old man on a cruise
Would tassels have worked better than pom poms? Hm, on further inspection, pom poms but all in one colour, maybe the blue? Or black to pick up the espadrilles?
Harry looks cute, comfortable and appropriate, A lot of guys enjoy their “fun” shirts.
I’m surprised that I like this, ruffles are usually a big no for me. Unsure about the pompoms, whether they’re just on the right side of the line between whimsy and silly. The flowers in her updo are a lovely touch.
And her speech was brilliant! That’s where she excels.
The speech really moved me and the thought occurred to me there is really nobody else in the royal family who can say the same – studying at university whilst relying on financial aid and working part-time to eat and live. I like that she isn’t ashamed and using it to show other women that the obstacles they face don’t have to stop them from getting an education.
I was thinking that as well. No, Meghan didn’t grow up poor, but she didn’t grow up mega-rich either so she is going to be able to talk more personally about things like financial aid, barriers to higher education, etc. I don’t mean this with shade, lol, but this is a speech Kate could never have given.
Also, along those lines – I like that she did make it personal. “Some of you struggle, and I struggled, and here’s how I struggled, and it was worth it.” Like many of us have said here, I would like to see Kate personalize some of her speeches like that. not just “as the mother of young children” etc. I think it would help to humanize her a bit.
Unfortunately Kate has nothing in her life experience to reference apart from being Harry’s wife/girlfriend and mother of three. But maybe she could talk about bullying from personal experience.
Yes, but the problem with Kate doing this is she simply doesn’t have a wealth of personal accomplishments to insert into her speeches. She didn’t work (jigsaw was play working and her schedule always accomodated William’s demands) and she never had to struggle for money. Whatever her parents couldn’t supply, rich uncle Gary did. She simply cannot relate to the people she’s giving speeches to on that level.
She can talk about the importance of education for the next generation. I’m sure she will make such speeches for her next campaign for Broken Britain. She just can’t put in personal examples, that’s all.
I agree, and despite what everyone is saying, she absolutely has plenty of experiences that people would find they could relate to. She was bullied so badly at one school that her parents sent her to another. That right there is pretty universal. Bullying is bad. Her family was never poor, but they weren’t exactly affluent until she was reaching her teens and their self-made party supplies business took off. That’s pretty cool and relatable. She was not famous, but as soon as people caught on that she was dating William she was being harassed, stalked, and pursued every day. She could most certainly mention the discomfort of being under scrutiny, something most people, I think, can relate to. The speeches that she and William give are so bad. They have zero substance, they never actually provide information (If they wanna talk about, say, homelessness in the UK, why not provide a NUMBER and not just say “The number of homeless people is too high.”), and they are both terrible at delivering them. Meghan and Harry should do all the talking.
Anyway Charles has had a rich privileged life but he still knows how to make great speeches about matters concerning the lives of ordinary people. Kate needs to become more confident and be her true self, and find something that she is REALLY passionate about, so that she can speak with conviction.
Kate can talk about maternal health because that is something she has experience with, she can also talk about early childhood having 3 young children of her own, and she can talk about the Arts because she has a degree in Art History. Just because she wasn’t born poor doesn’t mean that Kate has no life experience. Meghan might not have been born filthy rich but she wasn’t poor either, her parents were wealthy enough to send her to private schools
I think Kate generally doesn’t like revealing vulnerability or struggle. I’ve always thought that was the reason why she interjected about her own family life being so stable when talking about mental health. I don’t think she actually believes that being raised in a loving family equals immunity from developing mental health issues, she just won’t say anything that isn’t happy about her own upbringing and she doesn’t want anyone to assume anything or ask her about it.
It must have happened and I just can’t remember but besides the comment in Australia about having to cope because William wasn’t there when George was a baby, has she ever said anything that wasn’t essentially that everything is great? I guess there was the engagement interview about the breakup, but besides those two things?
““I think Kate generally doesn’t like revealing vulnerability or struggle.”
I’m probably get in trouble for inserting a stereotype, but going based off the Very British Problems show maybe (I’m emphasizing MAYBE) that’s a cultural thing. Brits are stereotyped as keeping their feelings to themselves (how true this is, I’nm not sure, but the show seems to make the point that British people keep their feelings to themselves and just get on with it).
Even if it’s not a cultural thing, I think some people just prefer to keep things to themselves and I think that’s okay.
I think it’s fine for Kate to only talk about what she want. You can’t force these things. William and Harry are a little more open about discussing their experience especially when linked to their mental health initiatives. I was just thinking that whether or not Kate had the ability to personalize a speech by discussing her own struggles, I don’t think she would ever choose to do so.
I think once you open yourself up to the world like that, you can’t really take it back so in that sense I can relate to Kate’s desire to keep things to herself.
I also think William and Harry have faced some criticism over discussing their inner thoughts (as has Charles and, of course, Diana) and I think you have to be willing to take that criticism if you open up. I know I wouldn’t be willing to hear everyone in the media to tell me to stop whining once I had thought I had made the bold move of revealing something about myself which I thought people could relate to.
Meghan comes from a somewhat more sympathetic background (i.e crazy family and more common financial circumstances) so when she opens up about something I think we’re naturally more inclined to applaud what she says (I also think her talking about financial aid, etc. fits well with the American narrative of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps — that’s a story people LIKE to hear about. And a scholarship is something to be proud of — there’s no stigma to that like taking antidepressant medication). When you’re born to immense privilege like William, Harry, and Charles I’m not really convinced people want to hear about their struggles (even if these are real). So, in that sense, I think Kate might be a little wise in keeping silent. Look at how we laugh at very famous and rich celebrities when they talk about something they’ve gone through, despite not having been born royal and having been “normal” at some point in their lives — we sort of mutter to ourselves that they should just get on with things since they have all the privilege in the world to make things better for themselves. In some instances, I think It’s probably preferable to maintain the Queen’s stoic silence than to try and be relatable which someone like Gwyneth Paltrow miserably fails to do.
“She funded her education at Northwestern” – I thought the Markles made a point of saying that Thomas financed her education?
Makes you wonder about some of the other things they’ve repeated over and over, too.
I’m not surprised at all that he didn’t. (And if he did, we would see the evidence leaked to the Daily Mail).
My close friend worked and took out student loans to pay for her education. A few months ago, she was at a family party and one of her uncles was talking about how expensive college tuition is and my friend’s father chimed in, talking about how financially stressful it was for him to pay for my friend’s college tuition. My friend looked her dad, made eye contact with him and said, “I didn’t realize how stressful it was for *you.* Why don’t you tell me more about that?” At this point, thankfully, her father shut up. Thomas Markle and his multiple heart attacks is entirely capable of lying about something like this.
Natalie S, exactly! Meghan can’t respond directly to what they say, so they’ve been going hog wild selling their own narrative. I don’t believe a word those people say.
Those white Markles are fleecing everyone who lets them, but the press don’t care because they just want something to hold over Meghan’s head, true or not.
In 1990 Tom Snr. won $750,000 in a lottery and paid Meghan’s private high school fees from that, but the well dried up after a few years due to heavy spending and some bad investments. Tom Jr. likes to make out that his dad financed Meghan’s tertiary education but Andrew Morton did some sleuthing and the newspaper article about his book implies that it was only the high school that Tom Snr. paid for: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/megan-markle-father-won-lottery-spent-winnings-2018-4?r=US&IR=T
wrong spot
I’m pretty sure her dad had said he funded her education, and “did well” financially for himself, etc. I wonder if this is a little clapback by Meghan.
Agreed. It’s also possible that her dad “thought” he was funding her education but in reality he had no idea how expensive a school like Northwestern is. He could have been sending her a check for 10k a year for tuition but didn’t understand that tuition was not ten thousand a year…
Since Meghan gave her speech, a lady from a Coach Store in Chicago, said she was Meghan’s boss.
One thing about Meghan, from middle school through college, she held down some type of job.
He did! He said he paid for her education with lotto winnings (I think) so she didn’t have to take loans. Said he was happy to take that burden from her. Now we find out she took out loans AND did work study? Just another reminder that Thomas Markle LIES.
My dad is a bit similar to thomas markle. He likes to tell people that he paid for my education(he gave me two grand when i first started college, and none after that). He actually screwed me over because when i signed up for student loans, i was going to just give my mothers info, but he insisted i give his too and that he would be helping me alot. So i did. Flash to when i go to college and cant get a loan because he made too much money. I never saw anything past that first two grand and than he basically cut me off. He still called me every year the day after his bday wondering why i didnt call and bitching at me because id never forget to call “that bitch” i call a mother. Thanks dad!
I’m also pretty sure Meghan as said in previous interviews that her dad paid for her college education as well. hmmm..
Meghan never said that; her brother did. And if you google, you can see that her dad won the lottery when she was 9 and spent some of the money on private school (not college, elementary school) for her. However, he filed for bankruptcy a few years later, so he could not have paid for college. Can’t attach links, but seriously, just look it up.
She said she had scholarships, financial aid and work-study to finance her college education. Nothing about taking out a loan.
Maybe a mix? He financed the tuition, the scholarship for books and financial aid and work-study for the cost of living?
My parents financed the largest part of my education but I still worked about 15h a week for all the extras.
At least when I attended college, financial aid included grants and loans. And by the time you were given a work-study job through the school, you were maxed out on grants and loans. To me, it sounds likes she had a little of everything.
My dad likes to (jokingly I swear) say he put me through college. He paid for my books and lab fees, and I got to live at home rent free. The rest was scholarships, grants, loans and work study. Did my parents help? Abso-freaking-lutely. Did I do my share as well? Damn right.
You have to be sufficiently “poor” (relatively speaking) to qualify for work-study and grants. Applying for those means filling out a FAFSA, and the university sees all of your parents’ income and savings and takes that into account before offering you any financial aid. So, I can’t imagine her dad chipped in *that* much cash if she was still qualifying for grants and work study.
I don’t know how it works in the US but here in Canada, at least in British Columbia where I went to college, I could not get any student loans unless I went through Financial Aid. And the criteria for eligibility of any meaningful grants were being a for full-time student on student loans; like all student loans (Federal and provincial) were dependent on my registration as 1) a full time student (2, single parent. The full-time student criterion guaranteed my student loan, while my single parent status guaranteed grants to students with needs + grants that were specific for women, or visible minorities or students studying in a certain field (which seems like Meghan met all those criteria). So when Meghan said that, i understood it that she got student loans through financial aid, got grants baed on her student loans and worked on top of that to supplement her income in order to meet at least 2/3 of her financial needs. Never the less, now Markle Sr. can not claim to have made her what she is.
I was thinking along those lines to when I heard the speech. She was clearly saying that she financed her university education through various means and not her parents. Having said that ones pre university education is usually the best investment made.
Did her mom pay for her private school education? I think the private school education set a good base for her to get into Northwestern.
About the security issue at the market surely that would be up to the security people to make that call not Meghan? If she was in an unsafe environment and she just said “nah it’s fine” do the security people get to override that and drag her out or no? Or is her word final and royal protection goes along with it.
Actually KP stated that she met all of the female vendors that she was scheduled to meet. It was always meant to be a 15 minute engagement but a lot of people were apparently standing on tables, scaling walls, and getting on the roof to see her. Whoever was in charge of keeping the site secure failed big time.
I think Emily Andrews was the most egregious of the UK reporters tweeting on this. She said it was “disappointing” that Meghan left early and didn’t even mention security concerns until she was called out (and then she double downed on claiming it was no big deal). It was crazy seeing the British press doing their negative spin in real-time. The Aussie press clearly stated how chaotic the atmosphere was.
YES Emily Andrews was awful. I saw her tweet about it being “disappointing” first and I thought “omg that is crappy of Meghan” and then I read the people responding to her and I thought, that is really bad reporting.
I really didn’t take it as her attacking Meghan or implying she didn’t want to stay, just that it was disappointing she couldn’t stay longer. I think she should have outright said these calls are made by the royal’s team from the jump, but she probably assumed most people would know that.
Her tweet was:
“Very disappointing that #meghan stayed for such a short time here at the market & didn’t speak to the women at the women’s centre which was specifically set up to encourage female entrepreneurs. They were told they would meet her but didn’t.”
That makes it sound like Meghan was shirking and didn’t care about the people she had promised to meet, which wasn’t the case. It also implies that she doesn’t really care about female empowerment.
A journalist understands subtext and uses it daily, so she understood fully how her words would be taken.
Yes, the Aussie reporters were saying it was chaos when she arrived and it sounds like part of the potential issue was a lot of people outside. It’s people moving forward at the back of a crowd that causes a crush at the font, so it may not have been safe for the people inside as well as Meghan.
Yeah, I don’t know why she did that. Didn’t she know people would be able to figure it out pretty quickly? That was rather short-sighted of her.
I was really surprised when she sent the video trying to say the market crowds weren’t a big deal. She’s not the security expert to know the whole situation.
I just went and looked through the comments on her tweet. Her video only showed what she could see from her vantage point, which wasn’t much. There were a lot of videos posted in her comments, which showed how huge the crowd was, I don’t blame security for their decision. I’m sure people didn’t mean any harm, but there were a TON of people there, especially outside. There were also a bunch of people getting up on tables. It was definitely chaotic.
I do like that spelt out how she afforded uni in the speech and it was organic and appropriate to the event – and also basically calling out her lying father and his stories of paying for her college education. Maybe this is the best way to debunk the lies that the markle side of the family has spun but not directly engage with them and give them a platform.
As much as ignoring that side of the family is the best response to their bs, I do like that they are getting info out there that shows the markles are liars and that their ‘version’ of events will be contradicted and debunked by meghan directly without stooping to responding to individual media stories.
Yeeesss! I loved that she made it clear that she got financial aid – just like millions of other american students.
@Birdy, not only that but if Meghan says she financed her own college education, and in a public speech like that? It means her version of the story is verifiable with facts and that gives it a lot of weight and credibility IMO. Im curious as to how the Markles will respond to this.
Oh, but I thought Thomas Markle paid for Meghan’s entire education and therefore she “owes him.” 🙄🙄🙄
I love the dress, but her hair is too formally styled for its boho vibe which she’s playing up with the espadrilles.
Her speech was so powerful. Well done, Meghan!
Ew, no. Although I do like her in more vibrant colors.
Oh Lord. They look like a couple of tourists from Milwaukee getting ready to trick or treat. A big no! The pom poms, really. Ok. She still looks pretty no matter what she chooses to put on.
😂😂😂
Dead!
Haha, so true!
I love the dress. The first picture I saw of her in it was a picture draped in the lei. I thought wow, she looks like she belongs there. The color story is gorgeous. For me the needle scratch is the espadrilles. Strappy leather sandals would have completed the look. That being said because her face is so pretty, she can wear anything.
Harry just about got through Eton simply because he cheated which was verified by his former teacher. He wouldn’t have been allowed into Sandhurst unless he got the grades, so strings were pulled.
So many people can’t get into the education institution of their choice, and here is this over privileged man who gets in not on merit but on the basis of his position. Urghh!
Wait it’s verified that he cheated to graduate from Eton?
His art teacher said she had to help him with his A-level in art and essentially do an unallowable amount of the work for him.
I don’t think Harry should have been sent to Eton. I think effort was focused more on keeping the boys together than what was necessarily best for each kid. I think Harry would have done better at Prince Philip’s old school.
I love the Royals, and the pictures, and the gossip that goes with it. I however think these tours are too long and too covered. It is getting boring. We are being saturated in it. She looks ok. Prince Harry in that shirt…. lol. I dunno, if that was the right move.
I think the dress is really cute and seems appropriate based on what others have on. I could probably have done without the pom-poms, but they don’t bother me that much. I wish there was more reporting on Harry’s clothes! When you’re a prince who picks out what shoes you wear? Yesterday it looked like he had on Toms.
Is what they put on her just called a lei, also? It is so beautiful.
I had the same question about the “lei”? It’s beautiful! I want to wear one.
I’m not digging that dress at all. Great speech, though!
The dress and the colors are BEAUTIFUL! Especially in contrast with the lady in the sea green.
Dont like the little dangling, fluffy balls part or the shoes tho.
Actually, none of the outfits that Meghan has worn on this tour have sparkled (my opinion, please). She is such an attractive woman and I think her style prior to her marriage was hip and fresh and completely appropriate. Whoever is assisting her has a narrow definition of elegance (i.e. overpriced designer frocks). Meghan, please call me, I would love to be your stylist.
I totally agree. I think a lot of times she either chooses clothes that wear her or are not appropriate for the function. Then there are times when I just think her choices are ugly. *shrugs* She seems to need some styling help and I hope she gets it.
Great speech! I’ll have to find a video later to watch.
This dress is soooo not my style haha, if I had to wear this dress I’d cut off the pompoms. It looks very comfortable but in general the bohemian look is just not for me. But it fits in with the casual island vibe and a lot of the people around Meghan and Harry are wearing similar colors. I think I’d like it if the bottom was just a skirt, then I might wear it. Meghan looks pretty in it, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if I never saw it again haha.
I love the dress and wish I had $1500 to spend on one.
That’s really expensive for a dress that looks like it could have come from Old Navy. I get the high price tag for formal wear, those coat/dress things they all wear…but cute day dresses are relatively inexpensive.
LOL, this reminds me of how the Brit reporters first sentence fo their articles about Meghan are to report the cost of Meghan’s outfits. But I have searched high and low to find the price of the McQueen dress she wore last night but I can’t even find no article mentioning the price, SMDH.
That is one of the most tacky, awful dresses I have ever seen; I was stunned. Terrible elasticized or corded neckline, like a bad Walmart housedress, cheap looking fabric, hideous pom-poms, just an all around mess. She is a gorgeous woman, so she deserves much better assistance with her clothing than this!!
Yep, you nailed it.
She looked beautiful but the post should be about the speech she gave. Isn’t this a feminist website?
BOOM! I had to scroll down a min before someone even mentioned the speech. Isn’t this tour about speeches, uplifting and engaging with the locals? I get it WE love fashion and everyone is a stylist but come on!
Meghan’s speech was inspiring and relatable. She spoke clearly and with intention. She got it right.
The flounces at the bottom dated the dress. The top and waist flattered Meghan’s changing figure. I love the color of the dress, it highlighted Meghan’s coloring very well.
I dislike espadrilles, period. The black espadrilles did not work with this dress.
Neither of them appears to prioritize their appearance and instead they put their time and energy into other things. She reaches the point of “good enough” a bit earlier than truly fashion-minded people and he…likes blue.
Agreed. But, it still makes me wonder why she spends so much money on these clothes then…
Probably because she doesn’t know better? She’s still learning, feeling out what is okay and what isn’t okay to wear as a “duchess”. It also looks like she gets some bad advice from that Mulroney woman.
Basically, she needs a stylist. lol
With Meghan saying she received finanancial aid, scholarship and work study for school Dad paid little or none for her education. Financial aid is offered for private high school. Dad produces the canceled checks that covered her education or it’s proof he lied.
The dress is pretty and it fits with where she is. She did a great job on her speech and I’m glad she had an opportunity to give one.
Hello, nice to see you again Vanessa Hudgens.
Refreshing to see your expensive hobo style is still well alive.
LOL!
Love the dress and the shoes!! (I’ll always love wedges)
I don’t really like the dress but I think if she wore different shoes it would of worked
I get a 70’s vibe off of that dress.
I like the dress but can’t believe it costs that much!
That dress is hideous. Just too much. I like that she went local for the bag but the bag combined with the dress and the wedges – just no.
Pom poms no. Tassels may have been a better choice. And those shoes are fugly.
I hate to say this, but I feel like she never gets the hair right. This neckline begs for a half up style and the blue evening gown would have been perfect with this hairstyle.
@Helen – IKR? But I love the flower in her hair.
The dress itself is pretty and the style is appropriate to the event, but I never like Meghan in a lot of cloth, it’s a habit I wish she would change, and it looks really bad on her from the back.
Lovely color, though – one thing I am really glad to see her in on this tour is whites and blues and pinks, they are so much prettier on her than dull neutrals. Hope she brings this trend back to the UK with her!
Love this boho dress!
Her style is not great. I’m sure she looks stunning in person, but her clothing and style choices do not photograph well. I don’t think MM has a natural eye for style and would really benefit from a stylist who isn’t Jessica Mulroney. The Mulroneys are quite thirsty and they are not doing her image any favours but I can appreciate they’re good friends and she leans on them. Despite this I think she would benefit from more qualified advisors.
@Henny – +1,000!
I love the colour but not the style. Shes just delivered a scathing blow to Papa Smurf’s claim he financed her education. Way to go Meghan, nicely done.
Dress is ok for me. I like the print, don’t love the cut or the poms, though I understand they are trendy right now (why?!?). It overall look appropriate to the situation and fit in with the kind of prints/colors other people were wearing.
Her speech was great.
Twins and espadrilles – love them both – would collapse into a heap without my espadrilles. No espadrille shade here please… and Twins!!!
Those pom poms on a string…. My cats would love them.😸
First dress of hers I don’t like.
The dress is pure boho chic to me…I LOVE BOHO CHIC!!!
Ergo…I love that dress!!!!
I think she looks amazing! The dress is really cute and the colours and print look really good on her. Even cuter after they gave her that traditional thing over her shoulders to wear. I loved it all.
Harry look hilarious in that shirt, but not bad. Also why is no one mentioning the beaded bracelets he was wearing? haha
Awful dress
#yourstylistfailed
Surprisingly, I don’t mind the dress. The clunky horse hooves on her feet drag the whole look down, though. They’re both dressed appropriately for the location so I don’t think they look weird at all.
It’s rather amusing that many will bitch that too much time is spent discussing clothes when we should be discussing what the royal women do/say but when they do actually say/do something, the clothes gets focused on 🙂
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this whole look from Meghan. She looks amazing in colour, instead of the blurgy dull colours she wears otherwise. 10000% sold on this. Go Meghan, go!
Urgh. This is only the second time I’ve thought the Duchess looks a lukewarm mess because, you know, massive girl crush (the first excrescence was that toile de joie-like tablecloth affair she wore to the summer wedding – good in principle and bad in execution). This is bad in everything – garish mishmash of colours, textures, frills, bells, whistles… It looks as though it should be covering the Mystic Table of Madam Arnushka, Palmist and Clairvoyant. A plain silk dress in that shade with a simple tie waist – so much better than ruffles and ribbons and pompoms, oh my.
-The Wail has been quick to seize on Emily’s claims because if Meghan breathes that’s wrong, right? They’re also – I don’t know if this is hilarious or sinister, CB-ites – claiming she bought her baby bump from Amazon and a surrogate is gestating polo baby. I used to become incensed, now I laugh – their fury increases exponentially with the similarly exponential growth of Megmania…
😭😭😭😭😂
have they been seen since she left the market early? I don’t know if they are in between engagements….
And I really like the dress. Pretty! ( I would not pay that price however…it’s not worth that)
This is almost as bad as the blue wallpapery dress she wore to a wedding last summer. Just really bad, not her style at all so it’s pretty much cosplay. Boo!
That looks like a dress Kate would have picked. I actually think they have similar style (maybe Jessica Mulroney flips through Kate Middleton websites and copies the same styles).
Agree, this dress is not bad but it is very “Kate” and it’s just too much fabric for Meg’s height and frame. If she doesn’t have a dedicated stylist, she needs to get one. And, if she does have one already, he or she needs to be replaced ASAP with someone who knows how to dress her figure.
WTF is Harry wearing? Honestly, I think I prefer Charles’s buttoned up silky-suit style. It might be stiff for some but I think he wears the suit, the suit doesn’t wear him.