Tonight in London, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, made a cameo at the Fashion Awards at Royal Albert Hall. When it came time to announce the winner of the prestigious Womenswear Designer of the Year accolade, Markle appeared onstage wearing a Givenchy Haute Couture black one-shoulder gown that showed off her growing baby bump. She was there to present the award to Clare Waight Keller, the artistic director at Givenchy and the designer responsible for making Markle’s royal wedding dress, now a piece of fashion and British royal history. Markle said onstage that she was “thrilled” to be there “celebrating British fashion and British fashion designers in my new home of the U.K.” Making her way to the microphone, Waight Keller stopped to embrace Markle, suggesting that the two are more than just fashion collaborators, but also true friends.
Since becoming a royal this spring, Markle hasn’t completely addressed her influence on fashion or her personal love for it, at least on as big of a stage as an award show like this one. Her presence was perhaps a sign that we’ve only just begun to see the Duchess’s impact on the industry as a whole. Here’s hoping for more of her regal cameos at major fashion events in 2019: Who wouldn’t love a little Markle Sparkle at the Met Gala come May?