It was a four-day ‘power trip’ to tell the world that Meghan and Harry were back in business. Just three months after the birth of daughter Lilibet, the Sussexes left their baby and two-year-old son Archie at home in their £11.5 million Montecito mansion on Wednesday and swept into Manhattan.
Ex-Suits actress Meghan, 40, ditched her laid-back Californian vibe for what one onlooker called ‘a wardrobe fit for Succession’ – referring to the hit show about a family locked in a bitter power struggle.
With sweeping convoys and police outriders bringing New York traffic to a halt, photo ops with the great and the good and just the right amount of posing with underprivileged children, the visit was topped off triumphantly last night.
It seems that, in America at least, the Duke and Duchess have no intention of fading away – let alone embracing the ‘privacy’ they once so desperately claimed to crave. Pictured, Loro Piana cashmere coat £3850, matching trousers £1300, Manolo Blahnick shoes £425, total £5575
The pair took to the stage in Central Park for Global Citizen Live, a concert aimed at raising awareness for a variety of issues, including global poverty and climate change. It has been dubbed ‘Wokestock’.
It seems that, in America at least, the Duke and Duchess have no intention of fading away – let alone embracing the ‘privacy’ they once so desperately claimed to crave.
MORE CHANGES THAN A BROADWAY PLAYFormer actress Meghan showed she intended to be taken seriously in a series of expensive power suits with towering heels which she is said to have ‘updated each day to ensure we didn’t get the same shot twice’.
She is believed to have travelled with her own hair and make-up team and carefully picked out her wardrobe with a stylist weeks in advance for ‘maximum impact’.
While some questioned why the duchess chose to wear heavy wool coats during an unseasonably warm week in New York where temperatures were a balmy 79F, Meghan was clearly all about the ‘optics’.
Emporio Armani coat £1000, Matching black trousers £650, Aquazzura shoes £450, Total £2100
‘She was here for business, whatever that business may be, and she dressed the part,’ one witness said.
Many times over. According to one New York photographer, the Sussexes had ‘more wardrobe changes than a Broadway play’.
For the solemnity of her World Trade Center Memorial visit, Meghan wore a black polo, heavy black wool £1,000 Emporio Armani coat with matching £650 black trousers and £450 Aquazzura heels.
She changed into a £3,200 Max Mara camel coat for her visit to the UN on Thursday (carrying a £2,500 Valextra ‘Iside’ bag) and then into a little black dress to meet Chelsea Clinton and others at the World Health Organisation.
For Friday’s visit to underprivileged children at Harlem’s PS 123 Mahalia Jackson Shool, she wore a £5,575 outfit, comprising a £3,850 Loro Piana loose-fitting pyjama-style burgundy cashmere coat with matching £1,300 trousers and £425 Manolo Blahnik red stilettos.
Public records show that 94 per cent of the children at the school qualify for free meals.
For her second visit to the UN yesterday, she was back to an all-beige power suit costing £4,554, including a £4,084 Max Mara ‘Lilia cashmere coat and £470 Max Mara high-waisted camel wool trousers.
Harry, 37, meanwhile, sat crossed-legged on the floor as Meghan read her picture book The Bench (aimed at toddlers) to a group of seven-year-olds, many of whom were so overwhelmed by the visit that they touchingly broke down in tears as they hugged the pair goodbye.
no booze, just designer water
The couple made not one, but two trips to the headquarters of the United Nations.
On Thursday, they met the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who said they had had ‘important discussions’ about racial justice, Covid-19 and mental health awareness.
Yesterday morning, they swept in again in their cavalcade of gas- guzzling Range Rovers and Chevrolets to meet UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed.
‘Boris Johnson got only one visit to the UN this week,’ said a witness. ‘They are clearly going for the whole “We’re so important we get multiple visits” thing.’
Last night’s Global Citizen Live concert, at which stars including Coldplay, Jennifer Lopez and Billy Eilish were due to appear, boasted a ‘woke’, mostly vegetarian menu. There was no booze on sale, just designer water.
Max Mara camel coat £3200, Roland Mouret pencil skirt £410, Valextra ‘Iside’ bag £2,500, total £6110
Hard-to-impress New Yorkers have been wowed by the couple’s ‘presidential-style’ convoys and wall-of-steel security. Streets have been sealed off, police stopped the traffic and the World Trade Center, a national monument, was completely closed down for their visit.
One onlooker counted ten cars as their convoy swept up.
The security cordon around the pair, which comprises some 20 officials at any time, seemed to include their own private bodyguards, New York Police Department officers, agents from the Department of Homeland Security (usually only reserved for visiting heads of state) and private security staff.
‘They are travelling presidential style,’ said one witness.
‘They don’t have The Beast (the President’s bomb-proof limousine) but they have two Range Rovers with blacked-out windows. They always go in the first one with security and
