“Her hair is pulled back, and if she has any makeup on, it’s difficult to tell; her skin is bare, and some of her freckles are visible. She looks like she could still be in college.” That’s how the Duchess of Sussex is introduced in the winter issue of Harper’s Bazaar US, of which she is the cover star.
The cover interview begins in a “cluster of white tents” in LA, where Meghan receives a group of 11- and 12-year-old girls at an “active fossil-dig site”. Of particular interest to the interviewee is the Duchess’s proficiency at French on Duolingo – she’s just hit a 90-day streak, since you ask.
According to an Instagram post from Samira Nasr, the glossy magazine’s editor-in-chief, the cover is a “culmination of a conversation that began five years ago”. Oh to be a fly on the wall in those email chains.
It’s certainly a good get for the Hearst-owned title. This is the first time Meghan has covered a magazine since becoming a member of the Royal family. The 44-year-old is wearing a black Dior Bar suit for the cover, paired with simple Tiffany diamond drop earrings, with her hair tied loosely.
Her “no make-up” look, credited to British make-up artist Diane Kendal, looks as if it features minimal product – a sweep of mascara here, a sheen of pale pink lipstick there. A recent Instagram video that showed a flash of Meghan’s dressing table revealed she’s a fan of barely-there products, but only time will tell whether she makes like Pamela Anderson and enters a “bare-faced beauty” era.
Meanwhile, inside, she wears a red cape dress by Balenciaga, whose Paris Fashion Week show she attended this season, as well as a series of quintessentially Meghan looks: wide-leg cream trousers by Proenza Schouler with a matching cashmere knit; black trousers and an unbuttoned Celine shirt; and a pencil skirt, blouse and trench that seemingly pays homage to her Suits fame.
