Meghan Markle re-wore one of her favourite shirts as she posted a video to celebrate the Fourth of July last night – just days after the Princess of Wales was seen in a similar design.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, donned the blouse in a clip posted to her As Ever Instagram page showcasing a charcuterie board she had put together, including various fruits, cheeses, and crackers, as well as her sold-out $14 raspberry spread.
Meghan had originally worn the blue candy stripe Ralph Lauren shirt to attend Wimbledon in 2018 with Kate, then Duchess of Cambridge, to watch the Ladies’ Singles Finals – marking their first ‘double date’ since Meghan married Harry and became a royal.
At the time, the £446 Adrien blue-striped shirt sold out in less than 24 hours, as did Kate’s spotted dress from Jenny Packham.
The bold striped design is clearly a style that has remained popular with both women, as Meghan also wore the brown version of the shirt in October 2023, when she ran into TV host Jen Su, and stopped for a chat and a selfie with the journalist in LA.
It was a garment choice Kate appeared to mirror during her hospital visit to Colchester on Wednesday, with the royal mother-of-three donning a similarly striped brown shirt from Ralph Lauren.
Kate, who helped plant roses in a garden during her visit, added a Blazé Milano beige blazer, which retails at around £1,000, to her stunning look.
And last night, Meghan once again opted for a very similar look as she celebrated July 4 at home in Montecito.
Meghan Markle rewore one of her favourite shirts as she posted a video to celebrate the Fourth of July last night
It was a garment choice Kate appeared to mirror during her hospital visit to Colchester on Wednesday
The mother-of-two looked summer-chic in the oversized, blue-and-white striped button down as she filmed from what appeared to be her own kitchen.
While she assembled the board, the Duchess, 43, carefully started off by arranging fruits like raspberries and cherries, then added some star-shaped cheese and blueberries, along with some crackers and slices of sourdough bread.
To finish things off, she took a brand-new container of her raspberry spread, which went on sale as part of the first As Ever drop in April, and scooped it into a small dish.
‘Happy 4th of July!’ the caption of the video read.
Meghan also posted a similar clip to her personal Instagram page just minutes later, @meghan, where she showed followers an aerial view of her assembling the festive platter.
During her visit to Colchester Hospital on Wednesday, the Princess of Wales spoke of the pressure of putting on a ‘brave face’ through cancer treatment and recovery, where ‘everybody expects you to be better – but that’s not the case at all’.
Kate, who is continuing a slow and measured return to public life while in remission from cancer, said there was an expectation that patients ‘crack on, get back to normal’.
But, she said, the ‘very scary, very daunting experience’ did not end with the conclusion of treatment, with patients needing to take time to find their ‘new normal’.
She had originally worn the blue candy stripe Ralph Lauren shirt to attend Wimbledon in 2018 with Kate (pictured together)
Both Meghan’s Ralph Lauren striped shirt and Kate’s spotted Jenny Packham dress were quick to sell out
The Princess of Wales may have taken style notes from Meghan Markle’s October 2023 look (pictured with, from L to R, Madison Leonard, Melissa Leonard, and Jen Su)
She also revealed that she had tried acupuncture – a traditional Chinese medicine in which practitioners insert thin needles into specific parts of the body to promote healing and relieve pain – as part of her own recovery process.
The deeply personal words from the Princess came as she met fellow patients at a cancer wellbeing centre at Colchester Hospital, helping to plant roses in a garden designed to help visitors find peace.
The Princess, who in January announced she was in remission from a undisclosed form of cancer, recently cancelled an appearance at Royal Ascot, with aides stressing that she had always made clear her return to public life would be staggered.
Describing a cancer diagnosis as ‘life changing’ and the treatment and recovery a ‘rollercoaster’, the Princess spoke of the importance of a holistic ‘mind, body and spirit’ approach.
She repeatedly emphasised the importance of patients and their families being able to find support through their illness, saying it was too often difficult to reach.
She added the Auree Bali birthstone necklace, with a gem marking her birth month of January.
The royal added tailored brown trousers and a black belt – while giving a more casual effect with rolled up sleeves and white Veja Esplar leather trainers – and adding her engagement ring and Cartier watch.
Speaking to patients and volunteers inside the centre, she said: ‘There is a whole phase when you finish your treatment, everybody expects you to be better – go! But that’s not the case at all.’
In the clip, Meghan introduced her board as ‘easy entertaining,’ and decorated a wooden board with various fruits, cheeses, and crackers, as well as her sold-out, $14 As Ever raspberry spread
Meghan also posted a similar clip to her personal Instagram page just minutes later, @meghan, where she showed followers an aerial view of her assembling the festive platter
To finish things off, she took a brand-new container of her raspberry spread, which went on sale as part of the first As Ever drop in April, and scooped it into a small dish
She said: ‘You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatment’s done, then it’s like ‘I can crack on, get back to normal’ but actually the phase afterwards is really difficult.
‘You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to.
‘And actually someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment I think is really valuable.’
She added: ‘You have to find your new normal and that takes time.’
The centre provides therapy, community groups and holistic treatments, including reflexology.
The princess, speaking to therapist Amanda Green during a walkabout in heavy rain afterwards, disclosed that she had not yet tried reflexology but had undergone acupuncture as part of her own health journey.
The visit offered the princess’s most personal and extensive insight into her own experience to date, seeing her reference her own ill health several times while offering empathy to other patients and families.
‘It’s life-changing for anyone,’ she said. ‘Through first diagnosis or post treatment and things like that, it is a life-changing experience both for the patient but also for the families as well.
On Wednesday’s outing, Kate opened up about her cancer recovery journey as she spoke with patients in the hospital’s wellbeing centre
During Wednesday’s trip, the 43-year-old said that such a journey would be ‘life-changing for anyone’
‘And actually it sometimes goes unrecognised, you don’t necessarily, particularly when it’s the first time [of diagnosis], appreciate how much impact it is going to have.
‘You have to find your new normal and that takes time… and it’s a rollercoaster, it’s not one smooth plane, which you expect it to be. But the reality is it’s not, you go through hard times.
‘And to have a place like this to have the support network, through creativity and singing or gardening whatever it might be is so valuable and it’s great this community has it.
‘It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.’
Speaking to patients, including those whose cancer has returned and one who had lost his husband to cancer, Catherine asked how the centre had helped them.
‘That first-time diagnosis is a very scary journey,’ she said, referring to the benefits of having an on-site hospital support network where many volunteers have had cancer themselves and survived. Many newly diagnosed patients at Colchester Hospital now visit the centre immediately for counselling and advice.
‘To feel a sense of hope and positivity [from speaking to people who have already been through it] is such a positive thing in what is otherwise a very scary and daunting experience,’ the princess said.
She added, ‘Science has told us that the mind, body and spirit experience is so important,’ asking if the clinical team at the hospital had given any feedback about how the wellness centre had affected patients.
After around an hour at the centre, she moved into the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital where she helped plant roses named after her.
Getting her hands dirty and asking if she could do a bit more work, the princess dug alongside television garden designer Adam Frost and told him she was feeling ‘good’ and was pleased to be able to work outside.
Despite rainy weather, the royal mother-of-three looked practical and stylish upon her arrival at the hospital
In the pouring rain, as the engagement overran by about half an hour, she told hospital staff and patients who had waited outside to see her: ‘I’m just washing my hands – I’ll be back.’
She then undertook a walkabout, posing for selfies and group photographs in between asking people about their day.
Kensington Palace said she was there to ‘celebrate the incredible healing power of nature and raise awareness of the important role that spending time in nature plays in bringing us joy and supporting our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing’.
Her visit coincides with the donation of 50 ‘Catherine’s Rose’ plants, named for The Princess by the RHS with funds from sales going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, to Colchester Hospital.
Kate even had the opportunity to plant the ‘Catherine Rose’ herself, alongside staff who volunteer in the garden.
The coral-pink floribunda has a rich perfume with hints of Turkish Delight and mango, the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) said in its announcement in May.
Now, 500 ‘Catherine’s Rose’ plants will be donated to wellbeing and community gardens across the UK this summer, including Maggie’s gardens for people affected by cancer, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and Horatio’s Gardens for those living with spinal injuries.
