Royal Style and Gossip: The Sussexes Down Under; Meghan is glowing

[CurlyWurlyTwirly]

Harry & Meghan have arrived in Sydney.
The purple folders coordinating with her coat will not slow down speculation...

Actually I'm wrong, it's a new one from Whistles but looks quite similar to one I've seen on her before.

I was just speaking to my mum in Oz and she said Meghan's wardrobe has been a huge hit over there as she's showcasing Australian designers that many people haven't heard of.

LOVE that Whistles dress (for myself!). Really suits her.

Anne of Green Gables is Kate's favourite book. I remember reading that about her when she was on that trip.

My view is that she is deliberaly dressing down to send messages to the media. She is avoiding endless comparisons with her and Kate and reinforcing that she is not in completion with her. She is acknowledging that she is a very minor royal trying to do a job of work to the best of her ability. I think Princess Anne is proving a great role model for her.

She will never stop the endless chat about what she wears, but if she continues with her working woman wardrobe it might die down a bit.

I'm quite surprised that some posters think that Meghan should liven up her wardrobe. Why? Surely she has a say in what sort of clothes she likes/feels comfortable in. Her choice. I can understand the scrutiny re her choice of designer - and agree that she should try and showcase British designers as well as designers from the country she visits.

I think she's an intelligent woman who doesn't want to be solely defined by what she wears. It'll be interesting to see which charities she takes on. Kate’s were announced about 9 months after her wedding but we may have to wait longer to hear about Meghan's, given her pregnancy.

Kate seems to be the same, and wants to make her mark in other ways. Her early years initiative to help children from deprived backgrounds sounds like a good one.

I bet Kate is absolutely stunning in real life, in photos she looks good but her clothes can be a bit generic.

Another vote for colours on Meg, I think she suits jewel colours.

I've seen her in real life and she's very striking though I wouldn't have called her stunning. But she probably wasn't looking her best that day - about a week after I saw her, she was hospitalised with HG and it was revealed that George was on his way.

I think Kate is an attractive woman but I don’t think she is ‘beautiful’. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

I think Megan is quite beautiful. Her features are lovely and so is her hair and skin colour.

I am finding it difficult to wonder if she is not more than four months pregnant. She seems to have ‘popped’. Their child will be incredibly cute.

Limpy I wondered that. The bump is definitely there and in a first pregnancy I don't know if it would show at 3 months?

I was 16 weeks before I told anyone except immediate family and no one guessed even though my work trousers were cutting me in 2 by 3pm everyday. I want Harry and Meghan to have little ginger mixed race babies (even though I think that's genetically impossible, being a recessive ginger myself)

It's perfectly possible for them to have ginger babies if Meghan has anyone with ginger hair in her family

Maybe she is expecting twins!

I think it's worth noting that theirs will be the first royal baby (that we know of) to not only be descended from kings, but also from victims of the transatlantic slave trade.

Meghan’s got quite a short torso compared to very long legs, maybe why she’s showing more.
Kate & also Pippa have long torsos so didn’t show so much early on. Kate was easily 5 months before any of her pregnancies started to show.

Apparently Queen Charlotte wife of George III had African blood through her Portuguese mother.

Although she was not descended was slaves, she campaigned against sugar from the West Indies, so was involved in the cause towards the abolition of slavery.

Meghan’s father is of Dutch descent; there is no reason why he would not be of Dutch descent. Though chances are the baby will be dark haired and brown eyed.

The grandchildren of Princess Alexandra, Zenouska Mowatt is mixed race. She’s 27, so someone of mixed blood in the Royal Family is nothing new.The novelty is the closeness to the throne.

The Duke of Gloucester’s son in law is an extremely handsome Kiwi of Maori descent, Gary Lewis

• meant to say there is no reason why meghan’s Dad couldn’t have a recessive ginger gene

Gary Lewis is handsome, and the Lewis children are gorgeous. I've seen Zenouska Mowatt's father, Paul and he looks white to me. Does he have mixed heritage??

Zenouska Mowatt isn't mixed race, and the jury is still out on Queen Charlotte. That blog post isn't particularly accurate - Philippa of Hainault wasn't of African descent either, and the Black Prince wasn't actually known as that while he was alive.

Right so on the genetic 'what will the baby look like' thingy. My dad is white ginger and my mother is mid tone southern african black and I have mid to dark brown crazy curls and waaay too many freckles. Married a pale white DH and my kids have all come out exactly the same shade of brown as me with ringlets but no freckles (so far). Hair for both DC is mid brown. Meghan is a tad paler than me so I think kids will have tumbling curls, nutmeg tone and brown eyes :)

Sounds wonderful Tipsey!

I really like the Roksanda dress, the paler blue stripe at the bottom gives it a bit of a lift. I'm not convinced that an entire outfit of that colour would suit Meghan though.

You can definitely tell the difference in her waist line though, especially from behind.

There was a certain amount of controversy when Viscount Weymouth married Emma McQuiston, whose father is Nigerian.

I know that I'm going O/T from the Royals, but toddler John will be a mixed heritage British Marquess in around 40 years:

Those Weymouth children are so cute! I'm white northern European and my husband is black. I know I'm very biased but our children (now adults) were so cute, masses of black curls and huge brown eyes!! Still quite good looking now, but less doe eyed