Meghan Markle Recreates One of Princess Diana’s Casual Looks From 1996

Meghan Markle re-created her late mother-in-law Princess Diana’s famous Northwestern sweatshirt look. On March 9, the Duchess of Sussex shared videos to her Instagram Stories from her time outside in her garden. “A small break from work to soak in the weekend,” she captioned one of the videos as she watered the garden. 

In one clip, Meghan, whose alma mater is Northwestern University, turned the camera on herself, showing that she was wearing a purple sweatshirt ($75) with the word “Northwestern” written in white across the chest. Diana wore the same shirt in 1996.

Diana reportedly received the shirt as a gift in 1995 after she visited the campus to raise money for the school’s cancer center. The next year, she famously wore the purple sweatshirt with white biker shorts, a Gucci purse and sneakers outside the Chelsea Harbour Club in London.

Since marrying Meghan in 2018, Prince Harry has spoken fondly about his feeling that his beloved mother would be happy with his choice of a wife, and more so their infamous exit from the U.K. when they relinquished their roles from the Royal Family in favor of financial independence in 2020. Since then, they’ve relocated to Southern California where they’re raising their two children, son Archie, and daughter Lilibet.

“I think again, when you are kind of trapped within this bubble, it kind of feels like there’s no way out,” Harry said, per the BBC about Megxit. Diana often spoke out about life she spent as a royal and the immense pressure from the British press. Meghan admitted the pressure drove her to severe depression and suicide ideation.

Prince Harry continued: “What happened to my mum and the fact that I was a kid and felt helpless, there comes the inner turmoil. I felt helpless. One of my biggest weaknesses is feeling helpless.” He added that what worried him most was “that would happen to me, or to my wife, or to my kids,” noting his dedication now is to “being the best husband and the best dad that I can be”.