Meghan Markle shares one way royal spotlight ‘changed everything’

Originally appeared on E! Online

Meghan Markle has royally stepped up her fashion game. 

Since tying the knot with Prince Harry in 2018, the Duchess of Sussex shared that the intense focus on her style has “changed everything” about how she “thinks about putting an outfit together.”

“Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing,” Markle explained in an interview with the New York Times published Aug. 28, “then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention that they should be getting.”

And while that may seem like a minor shift, the 43-year-old believes it can have a major impact. As she put it, “That’s one of the most powerful things that I’m able to do, and that’s simply wearing, like, an earring.”

Markle — who shares kids Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, with Harry—doesn’t take that influence lightly, either. In fact, she dedicates time to researching new labels that she feels passionate about. 

“I spend a lot of time just Googling, looking for brands,” she continued. “When people are online looking for things or reading things, I’m trying to find great new designers, especially in different territories.”

Of course, the “Suits” alum‘s interest in fashion is nothing new. Markle previously ran the lifestyle blog The Tig, where she updated readers on her favorite clothing pieces, beauty items, recipes and travel destinations before closing the site in 2017. 

Since then, she’s found other ways to explore the lifestyle landscape, including investing in the handbag brand Cesta Collective and founding a new brand American Riviera Orchard, which plans to sell tableware, kitchen linens and edible treats such as jellies, jams, marmalade and spreads, among other items. 

And though The Tig may not have gone the distance, Markle shared that the community she built through the website has remained a source of inspiration.

“What began as a passion project (my little engine that could),” she wrote in a farewell post on The Tig at the time, “evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity.”