Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped out in London today at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to hang with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum. This is significant because Meghan is not yet officially a member of the royal family but she’s there to represent the royal family – and the royal family is the Queen. The Queen is the Head of the Commonwealth. Given her age, this could be Her Majesty’s last CHOGM. It’s a title that means a lot to her. And there are currently discussions underway as to who will succeed her in the position as it’s not hereditary. Prince Charles wants it…but it’s really not up to him and there is a possibility that the membership could decide on a different way to appoint a symbolic leader. Theresa May has expressed her support of Charles continuing his mother’s work but there are others who think that it might be time for change. The job for the royals then, especially this week, as all these dignitaries are in their ballpark, is to remind people of their traditional significance (however you want to define them) and show everyone how they can still maintain their value while also staying modern. And a lot of that work will fall on the young royals, William and Harry – and now, of course, Meghan too. With that in mind then, it’s a tremendous vote of confidence in Meghan, that they’re sending her out there, even though she’s really only been part of this for a few months, during such a critical week. At the same time, they’re also clearly recognising what a tremendous asset she is, especially right now, just weeks before the wedding, when the entire world is curious about the woman who will marry the most popular prince of England of the last few of years. The royal communications team is making the most of that today:

Royal reporters say that Meghan is becoming more and more comfortable in the role, noting that she hasn’t really seemed uncomfortable at all, not from the very beginning. I’m not sure how comfortable she was with what she decided to wear today though. 

Why the jacket over the shoulders, especially when you know you’re going to be shaking hands with people non-stop? On practicality alone, I’m not feeling this outfit, although I appreciate the boldness of the shoulder-showing. Pearl-clutchy old-timers get really, really up their asses about women showing their shoulders, like it’s enough to incite an international crisis or something. I kinda love that Meghan is flouting that, intentional or not. Back to wearing the jacket over her shoulders though – in addition to the impracticality of it, it also doesn’t look that good either. The blazer isn’t falling neatly off her shoulders and it’s not creating any clean lines. If you want to wear the jacket, just WEAR the damn jacket, you know?