Yesterday, the eyes and ears of the world were firmly rested on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and their new baby.
The couple debuted the first photos of their newborn, and shared the name at St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle.
Little Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is clearly adored by his royal parents, and Meghan chose to wear a very special trench dress by rising biracial menswear designer Grace Wales Bonner for the occasion.
According to Richard Palmer, the dress is intended to show unity between the two families. The royal reporter described the momentous event as, "A day for the couple to introduce their son to the family as well as the waiting world."
"It’s also my personal opinion that this was a good day for Buckingham Palace after the shambles of day one which exasperated British and overseas media trying to cover the story."
Archie is the first baby of mixed race in the senior ranks of the royal family since the 18th century, and the style of his mother reflected this wonderful merging of two loving families of two nations.
Meghan’s choice of a trench dress by London-based Jamaican-British designer Grace Wales Bonner was an inspired piece of symbolism for the first pictures of the first mixed race baby in the senior ranks of the Royal Family since the 18th century.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) May 9, 2019
Meghan always embodies symbolism within her fashion choices, and she has chosen to send a vitally important message about representation while showing her first born to the world.
The pair managed to step in front of the cameras just 48 hours after welcoming a new baby to the world, but Harry and Meghan managed it with glowing smiles. Meghan's sleeveless, double-breasted trench dress was immediately noticed.
British designer Grace Wales Bonner runs her own namesake brand, Wales Bonner, and has won prestigious awards for her menswear collections. She was raised in Southeast London and has a Jamaican father and English mother.
It speaks volumes that Markle chose a biracial designer for one of the biggest moments of her life.
Meghan paired the beautiful dress with Manolo Blahnik BB suede pumps, and a gold and turquoise necklace by Jennifer Meyer. Her diamond stud earrings completed the look.
Markle has previously expressed a passion for representing her own racial background, and has been open about her struggles as a mixed race woman;
"While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that."
Bonner has also expressed her emotions about her identity struggles, telling The Guardian in 2017:
“At school, I had some pressure to prove my blackness. It takes you a while to work out being ‘this’ doesn’t mean that you have to be ‘that.’”
The designer continued, "I have to be between places, because that’s a creative space for me. I guess that is the foundation of what I am doing, a meeting point and collision of cultures."
Bonner is only in her late twenties but recently won the coveted FC/Vogue Fashion Fund, which awards a £200,000 prize to a rising talent.
Grace is renowned for her menswear designs, but is known as one of the UK's most celebrated young designers. She was also awarded the revered 'LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers' in 2016, and graduated from the esteemed fashion school Central Saint Martins.
Each fashion choice Meghan makes is surveyed by the masses, and there's no doubt that she is aware of the ripple effect of her style. The Duchess is reflecting the diversity which the British royals must now embrace.
Grace welcomes gender fluidity in her stunning collections, as she told GentleWoman: "I love it when a boy puts on one of the embroidered jackets that the women wore and doesn't know the difference- my work is about being open to interpretation."
Bonner references black culture consistently in her work and draws inspiration from Nigerian writer Ben Okri and artist James Hampton.
We have seen the tuxedo/trench style on the Duchess on the tour of New Zealand in 2018 with Prince Harry, where she sported a navy blue tuxedo-style dress by Kiwi designer Maggie Marilyn.
In another fashion moment, Meghan wore an iconic striped tuxedo dress design by Altuzarra in as she attended a reception for the Commonwealth Youth Forum last year.
Archie marks a new age for the monarchy, with Meghan bringing positivity and genuine compassion to the royal family. The baby is the first biracial British-American royal, and is seventh in line to the throne.
Keep up with her apparel selections, and you'll be in for a symbolic treat each time she debuts a new outfit.
The historic image of the six members of the British monarchy gazing fondly at Archie has been shared across the world on social media, and offers a hopeful message for diversity in the UK.
Feature image: Instagram/@meghanmarkle_official
