How Kate Middleton's new handbag was a sweet nod to Meghan Markle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 8 December 2020

The Kate effect strikes again. The Duchess of Cambridge carried on her royal tour of the UK with a visit to Edinburgh yesterday, and the handbag she wore sold out immediately, despite having only launched yesterday.

Don't worry though, it's coming back in stock soon, and you can add your email address below to be notified as soon as it's available again.

As with her first outfit of the tour, Kate carried on supporting local labels and designers, this time carrying a clutch bag by Scottish brand Strathberry.

Available in four colourways, the style launched yesterday, and while the embossed croc has now sold out, it is now available for pre-order, delivering for Christmas/end of December.

You may have heard of the brand previously, as Kate isn't the only royal fan. Meghan Markle actually owns several Strathberry bags herself, so may have given her sister-in-law the recommendation. She has reportedly been a fan of the brand ever since her first official outings with Prince Harry in 2017.

Shop Meghan's Strathberry exact handbags

The Duchess of Sussex even wore one of them on a visit to Edinburgh herself, a further little nod Kate may have thought of.

The sustainable and independent brand was founded in 2013 and also counts Lady Gaga amongst its customers.

Shop more of Kate's royal tour wardrobe here.

Leanne Hundleby, Strathberry owner and co-founder says, 'It’s so thrilling to see Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge disembarking in our hometown with one of our brand new Strathberry designs. We’re completely overjoyed and honoured that she chose to support a small, independent Scottish brand during her visit to Scotland. Her endorsement means the world to us, and she looks incredibly beautiful and sophisticated, as always.'

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.

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