Meghan Markle: 100 Days Of Royal Fashion Style In 15 Photos

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is developing her signature royal look            Photo: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Since becoming a member of the British royal family when she married Prince Harry last May, Meghan Markle’s style has gone through an evolution thoroughly scrutinized by the media and the public.

Although the 37-year-old American former actress had a developed sense of fashion and a chic modern style well before her nuptials, since becoming a duchess she has had to rewire some of her ways in order to respond to the strictures of royal protocol, which is so rigid it confuses even some expert royalists.

Markle attending a polo competition at the Polo Club in Windsor in July     Photo: Matt Dunham/AP

At the wedding of Charlie van Straubenzee, one of Harry"s best friends, in Surrey   Photo: zz/KGC-55/STAR MAX/IPx

To help her conform, in addition to her well-developed fashion instinct, Markle has a team of aides and despite unavoidable criticism, until now her choices have been almost faultless.

“The gooey-eyed, loved-up, you-can-do-no-wrong stage of the honeymoon between the new Duchess of Sussex and the media is over,” according to Jess Cartner-Morley, a royal commentator for The Guardian.

At the 100th Anniversary Ceremony of The Royal Air Force at Westminster Abbey   Photo: zz/KGC-107/STAR MAX/IPx

The controversial off-the-shoulder dress        Photo: zz/KGC-107/STAR MAX/IPx

The columnist even identifies a precise date marking when the honeymoon ended: Saturday, June 9, when Meghan appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony for her first official celebration wearing a pale-pink Carolina Herrera dress with a wide, off-the-shoulder collar. Many were quick to declare that she had broken a royal rule by which women should keep their shoulders covered.

Meghan attending events and engagements in the months following her wedding to Prince Harry: Her duchess style has kept a personal touch that recalls her past as a fashionista              Photos: Dominic Lipinski, Phil Noble, Yui Mok, Paul Faith, Arthut Edwards, Vaughn Ridley/AFP/Getty Images)

At events and engagements in the months before her marriage    Photos: Daniel Leal-Olivas, Andy Stenning, Andrew Milligan, Arthur Edwards, Chris Jackson/AFP/Getty Images)

Her "messy" hair bun, her tendency to forget to cross her legs at the ankle rather than the knee as protocol advises, the sheer-colored tights she not always wear (which is a rule followed by all female royals) and other minor "faux pas" such as the unintended flash of her black lacy bra at the wedding of one of Prince Harry’s best friends a few weeks ago, have gifted material for sniping to the British tabloids.

The Duchess of Sussex arriving at the Nelson Mandela Exhibition at London"s Southbank   Photo: KGC-107/STAR MAX/IPx

Prince Harry and the duchess visiting  the Old Library at Trinity College in Ireland       Photo: KGC-178/STAR MAX/IPx

Apparently, it is a standing request by the queen that when doing royal work - inaugurations, visits and the like - royal women should wear nude pantyhose when sporting dresses or skirts, a rule Meghan had ignored until her wedding.

Nevertheless, she has been able to develop a signature look with a modern edge and broad appeal and each of her outfits are followed everywhere and sell almost immediately. As with her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, the influence of Meghan’s sartorial choices is known as the "Meghan effect."

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle at the royal box at Wimbledon   Photo: KGC-178/STAR MAX/IPx 

Meghan during her first official visit to Ireland    Photo: KGC-178/STAR MAX/IPx

Like Kate, the fashionable new royal has an enviable wardrobe that includes well-known and new high-fashion designers as well as High Street pieces from Marks and Spencer and Zara.

Among fashionistas and royal experts, the new Duchess of Sussex has been on par with the Duchess of Cambridge, with whom the style comparisons are unavoidable and frequent despite the fact that Kate has 10 years of on-the-job experience.

Given her background and the barrage of gossip and attacks she has suffered lately from her comlicated American family, particularly her father, she must be feeling considerable pressure to get her royal part right.

Visiting  Dublin, Ireland         Photo by: KGC-178/STAR MAX/IPx

Meghan at her first official engagement with the Queen to open a road bridge in Widnes and visit the Town Hall in Chester                     Photo:Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

“The balancing act she must pull off is almost impossible,” writes Cartner-Morley. “The Duchess of Sussex is expected to show us the way towards the royal family of the future, but without showing disrespect for the royal family of today. We cheer her on for breaking royal protocol, but we admire and praise her when she remains aloof of the scandals that swirl around her. We want our royal women to be real and human and modern these days – and that is progress. The catch is that we still want them to be perfect.”

The Duchess of Sussex attending the Your Commonwealth Youth Challenge reception at Marlborough House in London             Photo: zz/KGC-375/STAR MAX/IPx

At the Prince of Wales" 70th Birthday Patronage Celebration at Buckingham Palace in London          Photo: KGC-178/STAR MAX/IPx

It seems as if Meghan’s problems are more related to her American family - which has become a steady source of gossip for the internet and the tabloids - than to her adjustment to royal life, even when her new sheer tights are seen by many as a symbol of how she"s surrendering her independence to the crushing rules of the monarchy.

Meghan arriving at St George"s Chapel in Windsor Castle for her wedding to Prince Harry   Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images

After all, she"s the same person who “weathered a pre-wedding familial firestorm and maintained grace and dignity in front of a wedding audience of millions,” notes The Guardian.

“As the first biracial woman to marry into the royal family, the first to have had a successful career, the first self-proclaimed feminist, she is a revolutionary force in Britain just by being herself.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2018/08/26/meghan-markles-100-days-of-royal-fashion-style-in-15-photos/