TRE NDS 10 11• 2018

THIS time last year, Leeanne Hundleby had a bright idea. She and husband Guy had recently founded a leather handbag label, Strathberry, in their home city of Edinburgh and were desperate to get their brand on the arms of the A-list.

Their first target? Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s glamorous and everso-fashionable then-girlfriend. “I’d watched Suits obsessively and always thought that she was stylish,” says Leeanne, 46.

“I routinely wrote to her agent and stylist and then, on a whim, we sent a few pieces.”

Fast forward 12 months and that turned out to be the best decision Leeanne ever made.

For the Duchess of Sussex has carried not one, but three of those bags on major royal occasions, catapulting the fledgling company on to the world stage.

Not only are Strathberry’s bags, which cost between £225 and £995 (between R4 180 and R18 500), stocked at Selfridges and global department store Nordstrom, but the brand is launching its first bricks-andmortar store, which opens its doors this week, in London’s illustrious Burlington Arcade.

Joining brands such as Mulberry and Penhaligon’s, and sitting between Chanel and Manolo Blahnik in the Mayfair arcade, there’s no clearer sign that Strathberry – a name still little-known beyond an elite band of fashionistas – has been propelled into the designer handbag league.

“It’s a huge step for us,” says Leeanne. “It is a bit daunting, but we’re excited. It’s a beautiful spot and an honour to be next door to such well-known brands. It’s beyond anything either of us ever imagined.”

Much has been made of the so-called “Meghan effect”, the pull of the Duchess when it comes to trends – but Leeanne and Guy were one step ahead of most, approaching the Palace a month before the royal engagement was even announced.

Since then, their experience of “Princess Power” has been nothing short of a whirlwind and there is no doubt in their minds that Meghan is behind their success.

When she appeared with her