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The Duchess of Sussex's striking appearance at her final official engagement as a working member of the royal family in 2020 has been highlighted in a new viral video, earning praise from fans on TikTok.
Meghan and Harry announced their intention to scale back their official royal duties in January 2020, which was followed by a second announcement in consultation with Buckingham Palace, stating that the couple would completely step down from their roles, fulfilling their diary commitments up until March of that year.
Meghan and Harry's final round of engagements took place in early March 2020, the climax of which would be a reunion with all the senior members of the royal family at the annual Commonwealth Day service held at Westminster Abbey in London.
For the occasion, Meghan made a bold fashion statement, wearing a dramatic caped dress created by a British designer loved by a number of royal family members, Emilia Wickstead. The look was made entirely in emerald green, with a matching veiled hat and green leather handbag.
Uploaded to TikTok by user royalsintheworld on December 1, a compilation of clips showing Meghan at the Commonwealth Day service has gone viral, reaching views of over 350,000 on the platform so far.
The video includes footage of Meghan's entrance into the abbey with Prince Harry—whose navy suit jacket featured a matching green silk lining to Meghan's outfit—as well as the duchess when she was seated for the event and curtsying to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles (now King Charles III) as they entered in a special procession.
The clips have received in excess of 25,000 likes so far and over 900 comments, a number of which have praised the royal.
"I just can't stop watching her. She's truly drop dead gorgeous!!!," wrote one user.
"Meghan is my queen💋😭," posted another with a further comment reading: "Love her and the dress."
The color of Meghan's dress was pulled into focus in 2022, when the duchess revealed as part of her Netflix docuseries with Prince Harry that while she was a working royal she deliberately avoided wearing bright shades.
"Until that last week in the U.K., I rarely wore color. I never wanted to upstage or ruffle any feathers," she said in the docuseries. "So, I just tried to blend in. But I wore a lot of color that week...Yeah. I just felt like, 'Let's just look like a rainbow.'"
Reflecting on Meghan's final engagement outfits, celebrity stylist and royal fashion expert Miranda Holder previously told Newsweek that the bold colors showed Meghan "taking her power back" as she began a new phase of life.
"Meghan did seem to really transform during that final period. It was as if she was throwing caution to the wind, determined to enjoy every single moment of her incredible circumstances," Holder said.
"For once, she was dressing for pleasure, expressing herself with beautiful bold color, and she didn't care what others thought. It was the sartorial equivalent of 'taking her power back' and the resulting radiant smile and 'inner glow' spoke for themselves."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more