Meghan Markle’s new year wardrobe shift signals a move towards Princess Catherine’s fashion playbook as scrutiny around the Sussexes intensifies.
Meghan Markle’s recent royal wardrobe choices feel calculated rather than coincidental, marked by a new level of restraint. As a royal fashion expert, what strikes me most isn’t simply what she’s wearing, but who she appears to be copying. This isn’t imitation for novelty’s sake; it’s a strategic repositioning. The contrast sharpened last week when Princess Catherine, 44, stepped out in Scotland alongside Prince William, wearing a bespoke Chris Kerr coat. It was classic Catherine: British craftsmanship front and centre, structured tailoring, and a muted palette designed to project authority rather than trend.
Over the past year, I’ve watched Princess Catherine double down on a disciplined, heritage-led aesthetic – rich fabrics, controlled silhouettes, and a polish that quietly signals her future as Queen. So when Meghan , 44, stepped out days later at the Cookie Queens premiere in Salt Lake City wearing a Heidi Merrick coat in a strikingly similar colour family, the parallels were impossible to ignore. The look was clean, tailored and deliberately restrained, a sharp departure from the laid-back California style the Duchess has favoured since stepping back from royal life. Instead, it felt firmly rooted in the fashion language Catherine now owns, while also echoing the heritage outerwear Zara Tindall has been championing all winter – most notably at Cheltenham just 24 hours before Meghan stepped out.
Hair, too, told it’s own story, and it spoke volumes. I couldn’t ignore how Meghan’s sleek, smoothed-out styling cut sharply against the loose, undone waves that have defined her post-Megxit image. This level of polish is unmistakably Princess Catherine territory – controlled, glossy hair that frames the face and never distracts from the message.Catherine has long understood that restraint signals confidence, which is why Meghan’s sudden embrace of the same aesthetic feels deliberate rather than experimental. The timing only sharpens the point, coming after a tense start to the new year for the Sussexes. Prince Harry returned to the UK to give evidence in his legal battle against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), thrusting the couple back into the British spotlight.
The pattern didn’t stop there. When Meghan stepped out for a second time in Utah wearing a brown Anine Bing coat, the Princess Catherine-coded symbolism was impossible for me to miss. Brown has quietly become Princess Catherine’s power colour worn on Christmas Day and repeatedly throughout 2025. It’s a shade she’s transformed into shorthand for modern royal authority. Meghan stepping into that same palette tells me she’s paying close attention to what now carries weight in royal fashion optics. So is Meghan returning to her pre-royal polish? To me, she’s clearly copying the visual framework Princess Catherine has spent years perfecting.
Catherine’s style has never been about reinvention; it’s about consistency, credibility and quiet command. Meghan’s wardrobe shift tells me she understands that in 2026, polish carries far more power than rebellion ever did. In royal fashion, clothes are never just clothes – they are positioning. And right now, Meghan Markle isn’t dressing to distance herself from the monarchy, but drawing deliberately from its most authoritative visual codes.
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