Natasha Archer’s Instagram Following

[tataler]

I’m somewhat fascinated by the instagram following of Kate’s former stylist and personal assistant of 15 years.

Understandable to monitor fashion blogs like whatmeghanwore but what’s the interest in Heather Dorak or Daniel Martin?

She even followed Meghan and asever before hastily unfollowing - why hide now?

Perhaps part of her new luxury fashion consultancy is keeping tabs on in-laws friends and associates.

One example would be the dress Kate wore for the Eurovision Song Contest video where she was playing the piano in 2023 - was very similar to the dress Meghan wore a year earlier to an awards ceremony. It was the blue one shoulder dress.

What makes the look very similar is that they both have their hair in long loose waves coming over the left shoulder. Although that's quite a common way Kate wears her hair so that's a bit more Meghan taking inspiration from Kate imo.

Another agree for this.

And time moves on and Catherine is allowed to develop her own style too. Just because she wears something different doesn’t mean Meghan is the reason. That’s an utterly bizarre suggestion from people who need M to stay relevant.

Right, so Catherine made the one shoulder look her signature in the years 2019 -2023. First with the white number she wore for the BAFTAs in 2019 (reworn in 2023 with long black gloves). Then the red one she wore for her 40th birthday portrait in January 2022. Meghan wore her blue one shoulder frock at the end of 2022 (December I think). Catherine wore the same dress style as the white one in May 2023 for the Eurovision Song Contest - but worn in blue to reflect the blue flag of Ukraine, on whose behalf we were hosting. So who is copying who?

Yes, but Kate started wearing more trousers in 2018 shortly after Meghan had been wearing them on engagements. Kate had worn trousers on lots of engagments before 2018 but not as a regular smart option.

My opinion is that she was more reserved in her dress before Meghan because she was worried about breaking the 'rules' - but had a f* it moment after she saw Meghan dressing how she pleased.

@wordler

I think that’s one royal rule I agree with - not wearing black for public engagements. I didn’t like it when Meghan wore black. It’s partly about people-pleasing - and most members of the public would be disappointed to see a royal woman in black at their event!

I suppose if you looked at lots of famous and glamorous women you’d find that they wear similar styles (eg the asymmetrical blue dress), not just C and M. A particular colour or style will be popular and many fashionable women will wear variations on that theme.

No, I agree it absolutely wasn't 'copying' but it was a similar look that enabled some people to point it out. As Serenster showed earlier in the thread there are many photos of Meghan dressing in a very similar way to Kate.

I agree - the most ridiculous 'copying' that the Squad were squawking about was the tan camel coat. They were claiming it was Meghan's signature style.

Like a camel coat hasn't a wardrobe staple of many women - celebrity or otherwise - for decades.

That dress - it was a bright blue grecian-styled one-shouldered evening dress. Kate has worn one-shouldered grecian-styled evening dresses before this appearance. See these examples. She has also worn bright blue evening gowns before. All of these photos pre-date Meghan’s appearance at the NAACP awards in 2022.

So this dress, style and colour, was solidly in Kate’s wheelhouse. It was also a Jenny Packham gown - a go-to designer for Kate. But even more significantly, Kate wore the dress to play the melody of the Ukrainian song that had won the last year’s Eurovision competition. The competition of course was being hosted by the UK rather than Ukraine because the country was still a war zone. the whole event was dominated by tributes to Ukraine - including the colours of its flag: yellow and bright blue.

By coincidence Meghan wore a similar style dress to Kate before the competition (Meghan also likes one-shouldered gowns). Deciding Kate chose that colour gown specifically to copy Meghan rather than to pay tribute to Ukraine at that particular event is frankly ludicrous.

Even I’ve got one!

Max Mara but off eBay and a bargain.

For example wearing more trouser suits and wearing more black, which we'd always been told was a no no for royals apart from mourning and the Remembrance Day events.

Kate has been wearing black outfits for regular engagements since shortly after she was married…

Catherine became a royal on official duties in April 2011. She spent 3 of the next 7 years pregnant or post partum. Maybe she started wearing more trousers when she was done with carrying children? By which I mean the statistical instance of her not being pregnant on public engagements increased.

Kate wore skinny jeans loads on engagements, often with tops/shirts and blazers. This reflected the fact that loads of her engagements involved sporty elements, d the jeans were a practical choice for that. She still does sporty engagements, but these days tends to wear actual sportswear for them rather than jeans. The blazers and jeans looked have morphed into blazers and tailored trousers. Same silhouette, different components. But this also reflects general fashion trends - trousers have become far more common formal wear for professional women over the last decade.

(All the pictures below pre-date Meghan)

I'm sure there were lots of reasons why her style has evolved more in the last six years - but for me it wasn't just the clothes, there was something about her attitude, confidence, general energy which seemed to change.

My opinion is that her no-drama, just get on with it approach, and the discreet, loyal Middleton family she came with, were suddenly much more appreciated in contrast to the chaos we now know Harry and Meghan, and the Markles were generating.

And appreciated not just by the Queen and Charles but by the senior courtiers. And that in turn fed into her growth in confidence in how she approaches the job.

Very interesting theory, Wordler. I, too, feel that she showed a change in demeanour. A lot of followers noted her happiness for quite some time after Louis' birth on blogs that I was reading at the time (I wasn't following MN then). And now we know that she was probably having a hard time behind the scenes with family drama. I agree that there may have been a family and institution-wide wave of affection and respect for Catherine which gave her a boost.

Yes, as I said above, she went from junior marry-in to senior royal and queen in waiting. Trying to become Meghan Markle as some (not you) have suggested is not what has been happening.

Quite.

As if, for goodness sake!

I also think that I would have had a f**k it moment if I'd spent nearly two decades being loyal, careful, curating friends, outfits, activities to fit in with the royal way of doing things, following the rigid royal calendar year in year out, and then a new family member threw out the rule book and just did what they pleased.

Not a tantrum, just a well, now it's time to start having a say in all of this.

Not so much a f**k it moment maybe, but the realisation that if comparisons were made, her conventional royal wardrobe which had served her well till now might suddenly look quite dull and dated.

And I’m not convinced Catherine would have been the one to decide that, because she doesn’t seem like someone who is overly concerned with fashion. I think she enjoys looking good and wants to wear what’s appropriate for the occasion (didn’t we all love her literal dressing?) but beyond that I get the feeling others do the granular work.

This is my take on all this saga: The real issue with the royalists isn’t that Meghan married Harry, it’s that she didn’t play the submissive role they scripted for her.

They wanted Meghan to be obsessed with Kate, instead, it’s painfully clear it’s the other way around. All they use as proof is that Meghan once wrote a blog post that mentioned the royal wedding in passing saying she wanted to he a Thundercats instead of a Royal. While that, Kate's staff like Natasha following all Meghan's friends years after she left, reports of Kate being a big fan of Suits and being inspired by her style to say the least, are convenietly ignored.

She wasn’t meant to stand beside Kate; she was meant to keep, to gush, to flatter, to validate Kate’s ego by acting beneath her. Those people cling to the fact that Kate will be Queen consort like it’s some divine achievement, when in reality, it’s a title granted by proximity, not merit like being a self made millionaire. Funny how they don't show this same reverence for Camilla, or any other consort in history. It’s not about the title. It’s about using it to position Kate as superior to Meghan, when most real life people in reality dont care for any of that.

😂 has to be satire?

Oh look, new squad. Dream on.

Interesting that your first instinct is to mock instead of engage with the content. Calling it satire because it makes you uncomfortable doesn’t change the facts. I’m just a journalist sharing a reasoned observation through research, why are you so triggered and disrespectful about it?

'I’m just a journalist sharing a reasoned observation through research'

Are you canvassing for an article?

Disagree with royalists = squad member.
Change the record it’s getting boring.

It's hard to know where to start with this. I'll break it down into simple phrases:

Meghan wanted to marry a royal prince (God knows why, but...)

The Royal Family is a hierarchy. It's about who takes precedence nearly all the time. That's just how it is.

Meghan could never accept the hierarchy. Or - maybe she just didn't like not being top-dog. So many embarrassing incidents of her trying to subvert it - running in front of the Queen, William and Catherine...cringe.

Meghan and Harry have flounced off because they didn't like playing second fiddle. They've sold Harry's relations down the river for money. They've accused them of awful things to a world audience, but have since pathetically tried to claim they didn't make those accusations.

They are now twerking and making cookie mixes for a living (service is universal, remember).

Catherine will be Queen one day. She is very, very popular. She does not need to follow Meghan, to copy Meghan or even think of Meghan.

End of.

Hope that helps!