Meghan Markle's Bright Purple and Red Look Had a Sweet Connection to Princess Diana

Yesterday, the year 2019 was single-handedly saved before it even really began, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) made their first royal appearance of the year in Birkenhead, near Liverpool. The Duke and Duchess sprinkled tidbits of royal baby news around like confetti (opens in new tab), and delivered enough cute PDA moments (opens in new tab) to keep us all fed for the next few weeks. As well as that, Meghan provided a look that was completely unexpected but amazing, selecting a bold purple dress under a vivid red coat for the visit.

The choice of contrasting brights was an unusual one for the Duchess (opens in new tab), as she can normally be seen in a more understated and demure color palette of nudes, black and navy—particularly when on official royal duties. But, as royal family fans have cleverly spotted, there may have been more to her outfit than just a new love of color.

As noted by People (opens in new tab), Meghan is likely to have taken inspiration for her clashing block colors from her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana. In fact, the purple and red palette was a favorite of Prince Harry’s mother, who chose to wear the hues together on a couple of famous occasions. Diana first paired them together back in 1988, when she wore a stunning red and purple statement gown in Thailand.

Another iconic outfit that Diana wore on more than one occasion (and even more similar to Meghan’s look yesterday) featured a purple skirt teamed with a bright red jacket. While Meghan chose red shoes to match, Diana chose purple, along with a purple clutch and a co-ordinated, wide brim hat.

It was this jacket, skirt and shoe combo that the late Princess of Wales wore for her famous solo visit to the Taj Mahal.

Whether Meghan took inspiration directly from old photos of Diana, or whether it’s just a rather lovely coincidence, it’s still a very sweet connection through fashion. And, it’s suddenly making red and purple seem like the only colors that are worth wearing in this world.

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