California casual: What Meghan and Harry’s relaxed Santa Barbara wardrobe says about their new life
Oprah’s jaw-dropping interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex contained explosive revelations about Meghan’s mental health during her time as a senior royal, as well as allegations of racism and infighting within the House of Windsor. It also offered a few carefully choreographed glimpses of the couple’s new life in California.
And what the cameras revealed was that they’re living the new California dream.
After the formal interview, for which Meghan wore an Armani gown and Harry a tried-and-tested J Crew Ludlow suit, the couple invited Oprah for a casual hangout in the chicken coop at their Montecito home.
Crouching on the floor of the dusty coop – or “Archie’s Chick Inn” – Meghan wore jeans, a white button-down shirt (possibly Misha Nonoo’s Husband shirt, one of her go-to pieces) and an olive-green utility jacket.
She scrunched the sleeves of her jacket up toward her elbows, a styling trick employed by many pregnant women (wrists never look pregnant). Intentionally or not, the move also ensured that the Cartier Love bangle and diamond tennis bracelet (which once belonged to Harry's mother) she wore on her left wrist would be visible as she gestured to Oprah about “this thing, this spectacle”, as she described her wedding.
Watch: Meghan and Harry interview: Duchess tells Oprah there were 'concerns' about Archie's skin colour and she contemplated suicide
It was a casual outfit similar to one any other well-heeled Montecito mum might have worn to the playground – except that their tennis bracelets probably weren’t owned by Princess Diana.
Harry, meanwhile, can be seen scratching around with the chickens in a black polo shirt (likely the same one he wore on his open-top bus tour with James Corden), jeans and a weathered pair of olive Wellington boots. In other words, exactly what every young aristocrat on a country estate might wear.
The polo shirt is telling – it represents a compromise between smart and formal for the British upper classes. The fact that the wellies appear unbranded is indicative of his status as a member of the Balmoral hunting brigade (any country squire worth his salt will tell you that to brandish a squeaky-clean pair of Hunters is to mark yourself out as an insufferable townie). Opt instead for the far more discreet and insider Le Chameau. It’s heartening to see he hasn’t taken the manicured, Little Beach House Malibu approach of curated countrywear.
One side effect of his new, sun-bleached life is that his short sleeves show just how fond Prince Harry is of his bracelet collection. Over the years, he’s amassed several beaded bracelets that invite comparison to African tribal jewellery. They’re thought to be a nod to his great affinity with the continent, which he toured with Meghan in 2019.
It was where his father spirited Harry and his brother after the death of Princess Diana in 1997, and Harry has long spoken of the continent’s healing effects.
In a sense, Harry has always sat apart from his father and brother in how he chooses to dress. While Prince Charles actively relishes dressing up and Prince William steers towards smart conservatism, Harry’s wardrobe is a deliberate blank canvas - nondescript shirts, standard-issue chinos and that trusty J.Crew pale blue suit that’s been a mainstay for years.
At another point in the interview, cameras joined Meghan and toddler son Archie for a walk on the beach. She played with her toddler wearing a monochromatic sportswear look: a black hoodie (again, with sleeves scrunched up) and leggings, with a white baseball cap and white trainers.
It was impossible to see Meghan so at ease and escape comparisons to some of her more fraught looks as a working royal. Recalling the furore over Meghan’s perspective on tights (or not), and collective pearl-clutching about whether the off-the-shoulder Carolina Herrera dress she wore for the Trooping the Colour celebration in 2018 was inappropriate, the contrast between her new life and her highly regimented existence in the UK seemed stark.
As Meghan said, the couple’s new life together on the West Coast is “greater than any fairytale you’ve ever read”. One aspect of this modern-day fairytale princess’s happy ending is the liberty to go outside wearing whatever she likes – even leggings.
Watch: Prince Harry has a ‘really good’ relationship with The Queen
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