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Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton are two royals well known for their distinctly individual styles with both sisters-in-law's fashion choices closely followed by fans and the media.
The public have had two key opportunities to see Meghan and Kate display their winter styles side-by-side at the annual royal Christmas Day church services in 2017 and 2018.
Here, Newsweek breaks down the core elements of Meghan and Kate's warming winter fashions which can be easily incorporated into your wardrobe.
Winter Warming Coats
Both Meghan and Kate have an array of warming coats in their public and private wardrobes, often in muted shades with thick linings.
Though both royals have displayed a number of their coats during royal engagements they are known for favoring different styles.
Meghan's go-to coats are used to layer her outfits, often creating a contrast in terms of textile to blouses and scarves worn beneath. This not only increases the warmth of her overall outfits, but adds to the soft tailored aesthetic she has honed in recent years.
Another of the duchess' favorite styles of coat, which were worn more in the earlier years of her marriage, was a belted mid-length coat. A key example of this style was worn in November 2017 for the photoshoot arranged to announce her engagement to Prince Harry, held in the sunken garden of Kensington Palace.
For the occasion, Meghan wore a white coat with a wide double-tied belt by Canadian brand, Line The Label.
Another statement coat in the duchess' collection was worn for her first royal Christmas at Sandringham in 2017, hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II. Meghan wore the long wide collar wrap coat from Sentaler for the annual royal church service.
Kate too has debuted an array of colorful coats, most notably her famous coat dresses which she wears all-year-round from designers such as Emilia Wickstead, Catherine Walker & Co. and Alexander McQueen.
In 2020, the princess wore one of her most celebrated winter coats, an emerald green calf-length design with statement buttons and faux fur lapel detail. This design was worn to Windsor Castle where members of the royal family watched Christmas carolers in the quadrangle with the queen.
Kate wore an equally celebrated coat during a visit to Sweden in 2018, again in green, designed by Catherine Walker & Co. the house formerly patronized by Princess Diana throughout her married life.
Color Coordination
Both Meghan and Kate have adopted similar color palettes when dressing for winter which largely fall in line with contemporary fashion.
Both sisters-in-law have worn emerald muted greens, purples, blacks and blues for the most part during the season, with beige becoming another favorite color which is being increasingly incorporated into their fall and spring wardrobes too.
These colors layer well, meaning that warming knitwear pieces can be worn together with different variations of scarves, hats, gloves and shoes being easily combined even with varying shades.
Statement Handbags
Handbags are an important staple of royal dressing, though nobody is ever really sure what is kept in them. Queen Elizabeth II famously never appeared at public daytime engagements without her trusty black Launer London handbags, and Meghan and Kate have their own favorite accessories brands.
In the early years of her marriage, Kate would accessorize her day looks with small clutch bags, but in recent years has adopted the style of handled bags, a style which Meghan was a fan of even before her marriage into the royal family.
The sisters-in-law are both fans of the Scottish/Spanish luxury leather goods makers, Strathberry, which made the handbag Meghan wore to one of her earliest public engagements.
DeMellier is also a brand shared by the two royals in addition to Queen Camilla who owns a duplicate of the mini Venice bag, first worn by Meghan.
In winter, handbags become even more useful that at any other time of the year, providing a helpful place to keep gloves, scarves or hats that are worn and removed throughout the day.
The Perfect Hat
Hats and the royals are a well-known match made in heaven, and for Kate and Meghan the saying is never so aptly applied.
Meghan's hat choices while in Britain for official appearances followed much the same line as Kate's, opting for establishment milliner Philip Treacy to create many of her pieces.
The hat Meghan wore to her first Christmas as a member of the royal party is among her most notable accessories.
For the occasion she opted for an oversized beret style molded felt hat in a shade of chocolate brown. The asymmetric body of the hat was enhanced by a molded felt twist of the same color and contrasted with the designs of the other royal ladies in attendance.
Kate's hats have become near legendary as she works on an almost exclusive basis with Philip Treacy for her event choices.
In winter, the princess often opts for a fur-trimmed style of wide brim hat from the brand Lacorine. This cruelty-free brand creates warm winter pieces from the fur of alpacas.
Most notably the royal wore a similar style during a 2018 visit to Oslo, Norway.
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