The Princess of Wales may have taken a leaf out of her sister-in-law’s book when it came to choosing her outfit on Wednesday.

43-year-old Kate looked stunning as she arrived at RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital in Essex.

And eagle-eyed royal fans have noticed that the royal mother-of-three appeared to embrace one of Meghan’s looks from October 2023.

At the time, Meghan was in Los Angeles when she ran into TV host Jen Su, and stopped for a chat and a selfie with the journalist, who is known for her work on the red carpet.

‘Landed in LA and on our way to dinner, we ran into Meghan Markle. Totally low-key and super friendly, nice conversation,’ Jen wrote.

In the selfie with Jen and her friends, Melissa and Madison Leonard, Meghan, 43, sported a statement striped brown and white shirt.

It was a garment choice Kate appeared to mirror during her hospital visit on Wednesday, with the royal mother-of-three donning a similarly striped brown shirt from Ralph Lauren.

Kate, who helped plant roses in a garden during her visit, added a Blazé Milano beige blazer, which retails at around £1,000, to her stunning look.

The Princess of Wales may have taken style notes from Meghan Markle’s October 2023 look (pictured with, from L to R, Madison Leonard, Melissa Leonard, and Jen Su)

Elsewhere during the trip, the Princess of Wales spoke of the pressure of putting on a ‘brave face’ through cancer treatment and recovery, where ‘everybody expects you to be better – but that’s not the case at all’.

Kate, who is continuing a slow and measured return to public life while in remission from cancer, said there was an expectation that patients ‘crack on, get back to normal’.

But, she said, the ‘very scary, very daunting experience’ did not end with the conclusion of treatment, with patients needing to take time to find their ‘new normal’.

She also revealed that she had tried acupuncture – a traditional Chinese medicine in which practitioners insert thin needles into specific parts of the body to promote healing and relieve pain – as part of her own recovery process.

The deeply personal words from the Princess came as she met fellow patients at a cancer wellbeing centre at Colchester Hospital, helping to plant roses in a garden designed to help visitors find peace.

The Princess, who in January announced she was in remission from a undisclosed form of cancer, recently cancelled an appearance at Royal Ascot, with aides stressing that she had always made clear her return to public life would be staggered.

Describing a cancer diagnosis as ‘life changing’ and the treatment and recovery a ‘rollercoaster’, the Princess spoke of the importance of a holistic ‘mind, body and spirit’ approach.

She repeatedly emphasised the importance of patients and their families being able to find support through their illness, saying it was too often difficult to reach.

During her recent trip to Colchester Hospital in Essex, Kate sported a similar striped shirt to Meghan’s

After meeting Meghan, Jen Su shared the picture and said she was ‘low key’ and ‘super friendly’

On Wednesday’s outing, Kate opened up about her cancer recovery journey as she spoke with patients in the hospital’s wellbeing centre

Kate looked stunning in a smart Blazé Milano beige blazer with pinstripe, and a matching Ralph Lauren shirt as she visited the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital.

She added the Auree Bali birthstone necklace, with a gem marking her birth month of January.

The royal added tailored brown trousers and a black belt – while giving a more casual effect with rolled up sleeves and white Veja Esplar leather trainers – and adding her engagement ring and Cartier watch.

Speaking to patients and volunteers inside the centre, she said: ‘There is a whole phase when you finish your treatment, everybody expects you to be better – go! But that’s not the case at all.’

She said: ‘You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatment’s done, then it’s like ‘I can crack on, get back to normal’ but actually the phase afterwards is really difficult.

‘You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to.

‘And actually someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment I think is really valuable.’

She added: ‘You have to find your new normal and that takes time.’

Kate had the opportunity to plant the ‘Catherine Rose’ herself, alongside staff who volunteer in the garden

Despite rainy weather, the royal mother-of-three looked practical and stylish upon her arrival at the hospital

The centre provides therapy, community groups and holistic treatments, including reflexology.

The princess, speaking to therapist Amanda Green during a walkabout in heavy rain afterwards, disclosed that she had not yet tried reflexology but had undergone acupuncture as part of her own health journey.

The visit offered the princess’s most personal and extensive insight into her own experience to date, seeing her reference her own ill health several times while offering empathy to other patients and families.

‘It’s life-changing for anyone,’ she said. ‘Through first diagnosis or post treatment and things like that, it is a life-changing experience both for the patient but also for the families as well.

‘And actually it sometimes goes unrecognised, you don’t necessarily, particularly when it’s the first time [of diagnosis], appreciate how much impact it is going to have.

‘You have to find your new normal and that takes time… and it’s a rollercoaster, it’s not one smooth plane, which you expect it to be. But the reality is it’s not, you go through hard times.

‘And to have a place like this to have the support network, through creativity and singing or gardening whatever it might be is so valuable and it’s great this community has it.

‘It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.’

The visit coincided with the donation of 50 Catherine’s Rose plants, named after the princess by the RHS with funds from sales going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity

The Princess of Wales planting a rose during a visit to the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital in Essex

Speaking to patients, including those whose cancer has returned and one who had lost his husband to cancer, Catherine asked how the centre had helped them.

‘That first-time diagnosis is a very scary journey,’ she said, referring to the benefits of having an on-site hospital support network where many volunteers have had cancer themselves and survived. Many newly diagnosed patients at Colchester Hospital now visit the centre immediately for counselling and advice.

‘To feel a sense of hope and positivity [from speaking to people who have already been through it] is such a positive thing in what is otherwise a very scary and daunting experience,’ the princess said.

She added, ‘Science has told us that the mind, body and spirit experience is so important,’ asking if the clinical team at the hospital had given any feedback about how the wellness centre had affected patients.

After around an hour at the centre, she moved into the RHS’s Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital where she helped plant roses named after her.

Getting her hands dirty and asking if she could do a bit more work, the princess dug alongside television garden designer Adam Frost and told him she was feeling ‘good’ and was pleased to be able to work outside.

In the pouring rain, as the engagement overran by about half an hour, she told hospital staff and patients who had waited outside to see her: ‘I’m just washing my hands – I’ll be back.’

She then undertook a walkabout, posing for selfies and group photographs in between asking people about their day.

During Wednesday’s trip, the 43-year-old said that such a journey would be ‘life-changing for anyone’

Kensington Palace said she was there to ‘celebrate the incredible healing power of nature and raise awareness of the important role that spending time in nature plays in bringing us joy and supporting our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing’.

Her visit coincides with the donation of 50 ‘Catherine’s Rose’ plants, named for The Princess by the RHS with funds from sales going to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, to Colchester Hospital.

Kate even had the opportunity to plant the ‘Catherine Rose’ herself, alongside staff who volunteer in the garden.

The coral-pink floribunda has a rich perfume with hints of Turkish Delight and mango, the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) said in its announcement in May.

Now, 500 ‘Catherine’s Rose’ plants will be donated to wellbeing and community gardens across the UK this summer, including Maggie’s gardens for people affected by cancer, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and Horatio’s Gardens for those living with spinal injuries.

The Wellbeing Garden at Colchester Hospital, which opened in July 2024, is a relaxing and restorative space for NHS staff, patients and visitors.

The garden is a vital hub for the community, offering activities for those working in or visiting the hospital and was created in partnership with the RHS, Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals Charity and NHS Charities Together, the latter of which is a joint patronage of The Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Wellbeing Garden at Colchester, and the transformative impact it has on patients and NHS workers, forms part of the research for the RHS’ Blueprint for Wellbeing Gardens, which will launch in Spring next year.