When photographs emerged of the Duchess of Sussex enjoying lunch in London with her hairdresser, I had one immediate reaction: thank goodness Meghan is back.
After six remarkably uneventful years without her in Britain, seeing the 45-year-old out in the capital for the second time in a week felt like a welcome jolt of energy.
Following her afternoon tea at Claridge’s with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, Meghan’s Wednesday lunch at The Park restaurant made the rest of the royal calendar seem distinctly lifeless.
She arrived in an £85 tuxedo jacket from Marks & Spencer, no less, alongside George Northwood, one of the fashion world’s most sought-after hairstylists. His clients include actress Rachel Weisz and model Alexa Chung. Meghan’s appearance brought a sense of style and movement that was conspicuously absent from last week’s visit by the Prince and Princess of Wales to an Ikea in Belfast, where they were pictured working the tills. If you missed it, you were hardly alone: the event generated so little excitement that barely anyone reported on it.
Yet the most significant thing about Meghan’s return may be the message it offers women across the country. As Margaret Atwood’s famous phrase puts it: nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
For anyone unfamiliar with the mock Latin expression, which became a feminist rallying cry after appearing in Atwood’s landmark novel The Handmaid’s Tale, it means: don’t let the bastards grind you down.
Meghan joins Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai for afternoon tea at Claridge’s
Meghan has stepped back into the public eye, appearing in Nottingham for her first public engagements with Harry since they left the country in the spring of 2020
Meghan meeting her wedding reception hair stylist for lunch in London – wearing an £85 tuxedo jacket from Marks & Spencer
And, thankfully, Meghan has refused to be worn down, despite the determined efforts of her detractors. Almost everything she does is scrutinised and attacked by an army of online trolls.
The hostility directed at her remains astonishing. This is a mother of two who launched a jam business, not Vladimir Putin, yet the intensity of the abuse can suggest otherwise.
Whatever she does, she appears unable to win. Consider the response to a weekend post highlighting a non-profit organisation that helps disadvantaged mothers. Meghan wore one of the charity’s jumpers, which sold out within two hours. On X, however, the reaction was anything but generous. Much of the commentary was too offensive to repeat, but its purpose was unmistakable: to belittle and diminish her.
‘Meghan showing us again just how much she adores herself,’ wrote one online commentator, neatly capturing the platform’s prevailing tone.
How a photograph promoting a fundraising jumper supposedly demonstrates self-obsession is difficult to understand. But even if Meghan had posted openly about liking herself, why should that still be treated as a character flaw?
The familiar accusation that a woman is “too big for her boots” is little more than misogynistic nonsense designed to enforce obedience. It reveals far more about society’s discomfort with confident women than it does about Meghan.
Considering the abuse she has endured, no one could blame Meghan for withdrawing from public life altogether, leaving appearances to her husband and retreating to the privacy of Soho Farmhouse.
Instead, she has chosen to return to the spotlight. On Wednesday, she appeared in Nottingham for her first public engagements with Harry since the couple left Britain in spring 2020. Smiling brightly and dressed in more stylish British fashion, this time by Joseph, she spent 15 minutes greeting people gathered outside the Community Recording Studio.
Naturally, Meghan’s critics have found a way to object even to that. Some argue that the charitable visits are merely calculated public relations. The couple seem condemned whether they act or remain silent, but it is especially mean-spirited to dismiss engagements that give valuable attention to charities that might otherwise struggle to be heard.
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Meghan is not flawless, nor has she ever claimed to be. But she brings a welcome spark to public life — a quality that has been noticeably missing from many official royal engagements in recent years.
‘After six decidedly dull years without her on our shores, the sight of the 45-year-old stepping out in London for the second time in a week lifted my spirits,’ writes BRYONY GORDON
Sickness and scandal have dogged the institution, but to see Harry and Meghan out there at Nottingham’s Community Recording Studio and the Himmah food bank is to be reminded of how very good they are at connecting with members of the public – or the ones who don’t hide behind anonymous social media accounts, at least.
A few months before the couple left the country, I accompanied Meghan on a visit to the Luminary Bakery, a social enterprise that helps disadvantaged women in north London get back into work. I watched as she listened intently to people who’d endured domestic violence, drug addiction and homelessness, instantly putting everyone at ease.
It was great to see her back at it yesterday, fresh-faced, engaged, unbeaten by the trolls who have spewed so much bile about her.
And I suppose this is why I am so impressed by Meghan. Because in a world that tells women they must always be likeable, but never commit a crime as heinous as actually liking themselves, she reminds us that this isn’t true. That we don’t have to play it small, safe or by the rules.
No woman’s a ‘whore’ for wearing shorts
The American comedian Shane Gillis has caused uproar after he hosted Saturday Night Live and made a joke about women dressing like ‘whores’ when they go to the gym. ‘Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe [it],’ he said, though of course, there are plenty of other ways to describe what women wear to the gym that don’t involve calling them prostitutes.
The American comedian Shane Gillis has caused uproar after he made a joke about women dressing like ‘whores’ when they go to the gym
Why are men allowed to work out topless, while women can’t even wear a pair of shorts without their bodies being commented on? Whatever the case, let’s use this moment to remind ourselves of one very important thing: a woman wearing shorts to the gym doesn’t make her a whore, but thinking it does definitely makes you a perverted creep.
Like all self-respecting women born in the 1980s, I was utterly thrilled to find out that the TV show Girls is returning for five episodes next year.
The series, which was written by Lena Dunham and starred her too, was the Bridget Jones for the millennial generation, a glorious celebration of young women in all their mess as they tried to navigate life in Manhattan.
After a decade off our screens, I’m so looking forward to seeing Dunham’s girls as women – older, and hopefully, like me, still struggling to nail the ‘wiser’ bit.
How Covid made us holiday addicts
The number of people taking holidays is finally back to pre-pandemic levels, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, long term, Covid ended up being the best thing that ever happened to the travel industry. Sure, times were tough, but if lockdowns taught me anything, it’s how important going away is. I’m now something of a holiday obsessive – I never want to be trapped in the UK again.
The City of London is going to put cyclists who ignore red lights in a ‘time-out zone’, where they can watch an educational video and think about what they’ve done. Given that most people on rental bikes behave like toddlers in a playground, I don’t think this approach is as misguided as it first seems. Send them all back to school, I say.
I’d welcome return of ‘fat shaming’ What Not To Wear
Trinny Woodall, one of the hosts of What Not To Wear – alongside Susannah Constantine – in June this year
Trinny Woodall has said she and Susannah Constantine have been asked to bring back What Not To Wear, the smash-hit 2000s show where the duo passed judgment on women’s appearances, using phrases such as ‘chicken-wing arms’ and ‘thunder thighs’.
I suppose I should be up in (chicken-wing) arms about this, but times have changed, and Trinny and Susannah have, too. It might even be a healing opportunity, reminding us all to be a bit kinder – and congratulate ourselves on surviving the Noughties.
