Markle sparkles on first royal walkabout
• Chanting “Harry, Harr y ! ” a nd “Meghan, Meghan,” hundreds of people lined the streets of Nottingham Friday to welcome Prince Harry and his fiancée, actress Meghan Markle.
The couple’s visit was their first official commitment since they announced their engagement on Monday. They plan to tour Britain over the next six months to give Markle an opportunity to learn about the country before their May wedding in the chapel at Windsor Castle.
Markle smiled and looked confident as she basked in the adoration of a crowd that had waited for hours in the cold to catch a passing glimpse of the couple. Dozens waved British and American flags.
A few saw the engagement ring up close as Markle shook hands. But commentators instead focused on her handbag — a Strathberry tricolour leather tote designed in Scotland and handcrafted in Spain.
Her long navy doublebreasted wool coat by Montreal- based outerwear label Mackage sold out within minutes of photos of the Nottingham event appearing online, said Mackage’s communications director Hugo Thibault.
“Our website traffic exploded,” Thibault said. “We had a 500 per cent increase today ... mostly all in Europe, because North America (was) just waking up.”
Markle has been a sup- porter of Mackage for years, attending the brand’s fashion show in Toronto seven or eight years ago, Thibault said.
The company knew she owned several of their pieces but had no heads-up that she planned on wearing the jacket Friday.
“I woke up this morning with tons of instant messages on my phone,” Thibault said. “Oh my God, oh my God, she’s wearing our jacket again!”
In September, Markle wore a Bordeaux- coloured Mackage leather jacket to the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games. That colour sold out within 24 hours, Thibault said, and other colours followed quickly.
The actress, who is from Los Angeles, has lived parttime in Toronto since 2011.
At Monday’s photo op to announce the engagement, Markle wore a white wool wrap coat by Toronto brand Line the Label, which quickly sold out and was renamed the “Meghan.”
After the event in Nottingham, the couple travelled to the east Midlands to visit a youth project. Their fans followed, including Irene Hardman, 81, who brought a gift bag with fridge magnets and candy for Markle.
Hardman wept with joy after handing the bag to the bride-to-be.
“I cried — she’s wonderful, and it’s fantastic,” Hardman said. “They’re so genuine.”