It was a busy weekend for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who appeared jointly in two separate appearances this weekend about two topics very close to their hearts – mental health and girls’ education.
The Sussexes first appeared in their first-ever podcast interview when they sat down with “Teenager Therapy” on Saturday to honor World Mental Health Day. In a candid 30-minute discussion, Meghan looked back on her infamous interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby – almost exactly one year ago – and what she felt when Bradby asked her how she was, much like the hosts of Teenager Therapy asked her how she was doing during the podcast.
“Isn’t that funny – it was about a year ago that someone asked me that,” Meghan said. “We were on a tour in South Africa and on the last day of the tour, man, I was tired. I was just about to give Archie a bath…I was exhausted.”
After Harry revealed that, during their breakneck pace tour of South Africa last fall Meghan was still breastfeeding, she said —
“Oh, yeah, so a lot of people don’t know, it’s like running a marathon, so between every official engagement I was running back to make sure our son was fed. And, yeah, it was a lot. But, at the very end, the journalist asked me ‘Are you okay?’ and I didn’t realize that my answer would receive such an interest from around the world. Because I said well, thanks, people haven’t really asked me if I’m okay. I didn’t think about that answer. I just answered honestly because I was in a moment of vulnerability, because I was tired, because there was no presentation. It was just, here’s where I am, I’m a mom who’s with a four-and-a-half-month-old baby and we are tired. But I think it speaks to the fact that the reason it resonated with people is because everyone wants to be asked if they’re okay.”
Meghan continued that today, she is doing really well, and how fortunate she felt for California’s blue skies and fresh air and green space, noting that now 17-month-old Archie loves birds.
For the interview, Meghan paid a deep tribute to one of her admitted heroes, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away last month. She wore a gray RBG t-shirt and a mask embroidered with “When There Are Nine” on it, RBG’s famous answer when asked the question “When will the Supreme Court have enough women?” (There are nine justices on the Supreme Court.) She paired the look with jeans and a blue and white striped sweater draped over her tribute tee.
When I’m sometimes asked ‘When will there be enough [women on the supreme Court]?’ and I say ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” — Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Meghan touched on the fact that more people are online now than ever because of COVID-19 and, despite being connected to the Internet, the deep sense of disconnection that not being together in person can bring. She also revealed that she and Harry know what it feels like to be isolated and to have their feelings hurt.
“I’m told that, in 2019, I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female,” she said. “Now, eight months of that I wasn’t even visible. I was on maternity leave or with a baby, but what was able to be manufactured and churned out, it’s almost unsurvivable. That’s so big that you can’t even think of what that feels like, because I don’t care if you’re 15 or you’re 25, if people are saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging. And so I think, from my standpoint, part of the work that we do is from our own personal experience being able to talk to people and understand that even though our experience is unique to us and obviously can seem very different to what people experience on the day-to-day, it’s still a human experience.”
To cope, Harry revealed he turns to meditation, while Meghan journals, saying it “allows me to reflect on where I’ve come from and with that comes a lot of perspective,” she said. “Sometimes when you’re going through something it feels like the biggest thing in the entire world, and then you look back it in a year and yeah, it was still big, but it wasn’t that big, comparatively.”
Listen to the podcast here on Apple Podcasts.
On Sunday the Sussexes returned to their sitting room – where they have been seen on-camera many times over the past weeks – for a chat with Malala Yousafzai, activist and Nobel Prize laureate, to celebrate International Day of the Girl. The coffee table book “Women” was back on prominent display on a table to the right of Harry.
As casual as her style was for Saturday’s talk, Meghan turned up the glam on Sunday with a chic black sleeveless turtleneck and a pair of white wide-leg trousers she styled with a belt. She pulled her hair up in an elegant bun and looked stunning and fresh-faced in her makeup, which featured a pop of berry lip. She once again wore what looks to be a Cartier watch that once belonged to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.
The topic of conversation amongst the trio was the importance of women all over the globe having access to education. Meghan, a graduate of Northwestern University, said “having the privilege of being able to go to school is something that, I think, oftentimes is taken for granted.”
“When young girls have access to education, everyone wins and everyone succeeds,” the Duchess said. “It just opens the door for societal success at the highest level.”
When this doesn’t happen, she continued, “it’s not just robbing a society of the cultural richness that comes with educating young girls – it’s also robbing these young girls of childhood.”
When women have a seat at the table, Meghan said, conversations and the dynamics of the community are all shifted.
“So much is at stake when we don’t give a young woman the opportunity to learn and to get an education,” she said.
The Sussexes also talked about their COVID-19 life in Santa Barbara, where Harry said they’d gotten to witness Archie’s first steps, his first run, and his first fall.
“In so many ways we are fortunate to be able to have this time to watch him grow and, in the absence of COVID, we would be traveling and working more,” Meghan said. “We’d miss a lot of those moments.”
Watch the video chat below via YouTube.
Now, everyone’s favorite part – the What Meghan Wore fashion recap!
For Saturday’s podcast, Meghan wore an R.B.G. t-shirt found on Etsy from the Ferris Built shop. The shirt is the Ice Blue Heather color with distressed turquoise lettering, $24. The shop owner has confirmed that this is the shirt color Meghan is wearing.
UPDATE! 13 October: Meghan wore denim jeans by FRAME, the La Le Garcon Crop Boyfriend Jeans in Covant, $220.
Meghan also had on a black cloth face mask embroidered with the Ruth Bader Ginsberg quote “when there are nine” (women on the Supreme Court). The mask is available from Etsy shop, Just Posh Style, $16. It is 100% cotton.
Meghan also wore her Manolo Blahnik BB Pumps in black suede, $695.
A great #MatchMegStyle for Meghan’s Manolo Blahnik’s is this pair from J. Crew – Elsie suede pump in black, $248 – use code SALETIME and receive 40% off ($148.80).
We’re unsure about the brand of jeans Meghan wore. They appear to be a relaxed fit style with a cuff. She also had on a black leather belt with a gold buckle.
She wore a sweater around her shoulders in what appears to be a navy and white stripe. The closest one I found is from J. Crew, which is a brand the Duchess favors. It is the J. Crew v-neck cardigan sweater in stripe, on sale $28 with code SALETIME.
Meghan also had on her trusty Cartier ‘Love’ bangle bracelet in gold and her Monica Vinader Linear Friendship Bracelet in gold, $175 and Prince Diana’s Cartier Francaise Tank watch in gold. See our previous posts for more information on these pieces here.
For today’s video chat with Malala Fund, Meghan wore a black sleeveless turtleneck top with what appear to be off-white flare pants and a leather belt. She also had on her Cartier bracelet, Monica Vinader bracelet and Princess Diana’s Cartier Tank watch again.
UPDATE 12 October: Meghan wore her TUXE ‘Renegade bodysuit, $300. She first wore the piece for the launch of her TOGETHER cookbook.
The prints that hang behind Meghan and Harry are from Barloga Studios. These are part of the Nest Study collection — Nest Study #11, #2 and #8 printed on English watercolor paper. The prints run $60-90 each unframed.
We will update the post with more information if we find out any ID’s on items Meghan wore so please check back.
Larissa says
Love Meghan’s outfit for both of these events. The casual ensemble is very relatable for the Teenager Therapy chat and her hair looks amazing. The lipstick was a great choice for the conversation with Malala and the outfit looks good even while seated.
I find it amazing that Meghan has been buying so much from Etsy the past few months. Imagine being the owner of one of those shops and suddenly having an order come through from the Duchess of Sussex! Makes me wonder if Meghan uses a fake name and alternative address for these kinds of orders…
Maureen says
The UK paper The Telegraph has an article about the polo necked bodysuit that Meghan is wearing in the Malala Fund video. It says that the piece is by Tuxe by Tamar Daniel, with an associated gender message, and says that Meghan wore this during a Hub Community appearance as well. While I’m writing, let me add my thanks to those of others recently. I appreciate the ease of accessing Meghan-information in a safe environment that doesn’t descend to the nasty tone of UK tabloids.
WhatMeghanWore says
Hi Maureen, Thank you so much for this information on the bodysuit as well as for your kind words! Susan and Rachel
Kate says
Love the head scarf that Malala was wearing during that incredible interview. Any idea where it can be found?
Rose says
I have no idea what specific scarf Malala was wearing, but you can find similar items at the FabIndia website. Look in women’s clothing in both “Dupattas” and “Stoles and Scarfs.” On my website, pricing shows up in Indian rupees, but you have the option to switch the price to US dollars.
Jill says
I always enjoy seeing what Meghan wears. Thank you for highlighting her fashion, her engagements and providing links to specific items she’s wearing or is in her home.
I don’t enjoy the editorialization of her appearance. For example, “stunning” and “fresh-faced” etc.
Thank you!
Izzy says
Thank you for continuing to follow Meghan’s fashion choices.
Amelie says
I haven’t commented in awhile but I do keep up with all the posts! It’s so fun seeing Meghan be more relaxed and fun with her fashion since returning to CA with Harry. When she was in the UK, she was definitely more restrained and I felt like she was experiment with styles she wasn’t very comfortable with. It’s clear the change in environment suits her and Harry both!
Anyways I’m a huge RBG fan and like so many women was devastated when I learned of her passing. I love Meghan’s RBG mask and might order the same as well, though I’m sure the Etsy shop has since been overloaded with orders for that mask! Anyways love her casual and more dressed up styles here. I’ve loved a lot of what she’s been wearing lately, minus that one asymmetrical top from a few days ago. I can’t wait to watch the talk with Malala, it makes so much sense for them to partner up to speak about girls’ education. At one point in the talk Malala slightly ribbed Harry by saying boys typically realize a bit later than girls how important education is haha.