Meghan Markle copies Princess Diana’s iconic style playbook in latest solo appearance (Image: Getty)
Meghan Markle made a calculated fashion statement as she attended the 2026 Fifteen Percent Pledge Fundraising Gala at Paramount Studios without Prince Harry – and nothing about the look felt incidental. Appearing alone only intensified the focus, turning the evening into a lesson in visual power rather than Hollywood spectacle.
This was not a red-carpet moment built on royal drama, but a calculated exercise in visual authority paying tribute to her children’s late grandmother, Princess Diana. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, was snapped in a bespoke gown by Harbison Studio, defined by a clean, strapless bodice and a streamlined, column-style silhouette.
Executed in a striking two-tone palette, the gown was designed to make an immediate impact. It was a look meant to be read at a glance, not unravelled over time, setting the tone for a style moment that would soon invite far deeper comparisons.
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The Duchess of Sussex looked radiant in a look just like Princess Diana’s (Image: Getty)
She completed the look with black onyx drop earrings and a matching ring by Maison Merenor – a deliberate jewellery choice that directly recalls Princess Diana’s preference for bold, dark stones in eveningwear.
Hair was swept away from the face to expose the neckline, a styling hallmark closely associated with Diana’s most iconic appearances, while makeup was pared back to near invisibility.
The effect was controlled and graphic rather than decorative, allowing structure and silhouette to take precedence. This is where the Diana reference shifts from suggestion to certainty.
Shop Diana and Meghan’s statement earring look on the high street:
Princess Diana back in 1986 at the America’s Cup Ball at the Grosvenor House Hotel (Image: Getty)
While Meghan is known for favouring muted, restrained tones, Princess Diana was celebrated for her fearless use of colour and style legacy.
Yet colour was never the defining element of Diana’s eveningwear – silhouette was. Strapless necklines, sculpted bodices, strong two-tone contrasts and statement jewellery framed by an updo formed the foundation of her most enduring looks, and Meghan followed that formula with precision.
This was not a loose homage or subtle nod. It was a modern replication of Diana’s fashion blueprint, refined for a contemporary palette.
The Duchess of Sussex was snapped in Harbison Studio dress over the weekend, without Prince Harry (Image: Getty)
Remove Diana’s bold reds and replace them with Meghan’s softened neutrals, and the structure remains unchanged. The parallels are too exact to be dismissed as a coincidence.
The comparison extends beyond aesthetics into setting and symbolism. Princess Diana wore her now-iconic black-and-red strapless gown to the America’s Cup Ball at Grosvenor House in 1986 – a globally focused gala steeped in transatlantic prestige.
Nearly four decades later, Meghan Markle, an American by birth, who quit life as a working royal to move back home to her native – stepped out in a strikingly similar silhouette at a major fundraising gala on US soil.
In both cases, eveningwear was deployed not for spectacle, but for authority and narrative control on an international stage.
