Meghan Markle's outfit for last official royal outing was apparently specially planned

(Image credit: Getty)

Back in early March, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the UK one last time, to attend the Endeavour Fund Awards, which Harry founded. It was the first time the royal couple had made a public appearance together since moving to Canada and renouncing their titles and official duties.

For the occasion, Meghan chose to support a British designer (not unusual for women in the royal family), which was Victoria Beckham, whose designs the Duchess of Sussex has worn several times in the past.

She accessorised the turquoise blue pencil dress with her trusted Manolo Blahnik heels and a clutch bag by Stella McCartney. Her outfit made headlines at the time for being so bright and powerful, and quickly earned the title of 'the revenge dress'. A picture of the couple, surrounded by rain caught in the flashes of cameras, even went viral.

Now an unauthorised biography of the couple claims the outfit was carefully selected to illustrate how powerful they were, with or without the royal family.

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand shared in their Finding Freedom biography that the outfits 'served as a showstopping reminder of their ability to command the world’s attention.'

They wrote, 'Earlier in the day Daniel Martin (who, when planning all her looks for the week, had joked, ‘Go out with a bang!’) had done her makeup and George Northwood her hair.'

'The sparkling rain in the frame was pure coincidence, but the confident walk into Mansion House venue and Meghan’s blue midi dress by Victoria Beckham, were carefully planned,' they added.

For the five-day goodbye tour, Meghan Markle wore several statement outfits by other UK designers, which included a floor-length red gown by Safiyaa, and an emerald green Emilia Wickstead dress and cape combo on her final outing, for the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.

Penny Goldstone

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.