Meghan Markle was one of 2018’s best-dressed women, topping style lists left, right and centre, but it appears not everyone is enamoured with the Duchess of Sussex’s style.
The mother-to-be, who is expecting her first child with husband Prince Harry in the spring, revealed that a shopper once turned down an accessory previously owned by the royal herself.
She made the admission during a visit to Smart Works, a charity that helps long-term unemployed women back into the workforce. The royal was named patron of the non-profit last week as she revealed the causes she will champion as a royal, which also include animal welfare charity Mayhew, the National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
"The Duchess is delighted to become patron of both national and grass roots organisations that are part of the fabric of the UK, and is very much looking forward to working with them to bring wider public attention to their causes," Kensington Palace said.
On Thursday, the day her patronages were announced, the royal visited the Smart Works team at St Charles Hospital in London, where she opened up about the style snub.
“The last time I was here I suggested a purse and it was one that I had donated,” the duchess told the charity’s chair and co-founder, Lady Juliet Hughes-Hallett, during a tour. “And she didn’t like it!"
Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex has visited Smart Works, one of the four organisations she will become Patron of. @SmartWorksHQ is a charity that helps unemployed and vulnerable women get back into work and prepares them for interview. pic.twitter.com/rNRzLTuEJt
— The Royal Family Channel (@RoyalFamilyITNP) January 10, 2019
Carrying a bag once nestled in the crook of the Duchess of Sussex’s arm would have certainly made quite the first impression at any interview. However, the oblivious jobseeker helped by the royal missed out on the opportunity.
"I was like, ‘Oh, OK,’” the royal joked of the rejection. “I thought it was great.” During her tour, the duchess also met women helped by Smart Works, where she gave her thoughts on the charity’s empowering business model.
"It’s not just donating your clothes and seeing where they land, but really being a part of each other’s success stories as women, right?” the royal said. “It’s not just hand-me-downs, it’s saying: ‘This is the blazer I wore that helped me win that interview' … So to know, as a woman coming in, that you have so many other women believing in you on all the next phases is the piece that makes it so special.”
The Duchess of Sussex is due to make private visits to the other three organisations that have received her patronage in the coming weeks.
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