Meghan Markle Is Saying Goodbye to This Casual Accessory Now That She's a Royal

She's traded them in for dainty clutches.

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Duchess Meghan
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Meghan Markle is quickly morphing into the perfect princess. She’s adapting to her royal duties nicely (the queen even passed one of her roles off to Meghan) and her princess street style has been spot on. She's swapped her jeans for polished dresses, fedoras for fascinators, and, now, her casual crossbody bags for elegant clutches.

Prior to becoming the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan was spotted in crossbody pieces and top handle totes from the likes of Strathberry and Chloé. While the items themselves were cute and trendy, they apparently weren't a fit for a royal's wardrobe, especially for more formal public appearances.

"Cross-body bags look great with jeans and trousers and more informal clothes, but not with designer outfits, especially when you are being photographed and scrutinized from every angle," Royal expert Penny Junor said to Harper's Bazaar UK. "Now that she is a Duchess, she doesn't need anything more useful than lipstick, and possibly her phone."

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Clutches do look daintier and cleaner with Meghan's new royal wardrobe, as the photos can attest to. "As the Duchess of Sussex has started attending events that are more formal in nature, we see her handbag style transitioning from larger, casual totes to smaller, more formal clutches," said etiquette coach Myka Meier from Beaumont Etiquette.

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She's also seemingly following in her sister-in-law's footsteps as Kate Middleton's known for holding clutches in order to avoid awkward handshakes. Princess Diana, too, often carried the tiny accessory as a way to shield her chest when she wore low-cut dresses. So, you can say clutches run in the family.

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Shop Every One of Meghan Markle's Best Looks

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