Did Meghan Markle inherit Princess Diana’s watch?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released a rare posed portrait this weekend, ahead of their appearance on Times100 Talks on Tuesday. The pair looked professional yet relaxed in the black and white shot by Matt Sayles, both donning dark suits and a white top.

The Duchess of Sussex rewore the Alexander McQueen suit she wore to attend the Endeavour Fund Awards in London with her husband back in 2018.

But what really caught people's attention was her jewellery, and more specifically that it paid subtle tribute to Princess Diana.

Meghan is seen wearing her favourite Cartier love bracelet (which Princess Harry owns as well), as well as the Tank watch by the same French jeweller.

Now some royal fans are claiming that it's in fact Princess Diana's watch that she is wearing. The gold watch was one of Princess Diana's most worn pieces, and was a present from her father John Spencer.

It is also said to have been Prince William's favourite piece of jewellery of his mum's, and even inspired his wedding anniversary present to Duchess Catherine.

Photo: Matt Sayles

The Cartier Tank Francaise watch is also a piece that Meghan Markle loves, and she actually already owns one, as it's the first big present she ever bought herself.

She told Hello Magazine in 2015, ‘I’ve always coveted the Cartier French Tank watch. When I found out Suits had been picked up for our third season – which, at the time, felt like such a milestone – I totally splurged and bought the two tone version.’

However, it seems like she may also own Princess Diana's watch now, even though it was originally said to have been passed down to Prince William.

The watch Meghan is wearing, and has been photographed wearing recently, appears to be gold, while the watch she bought herself all those years ago was two-tone.

kate meghan inherited diana

This does seem to point to the fact she is paying tribute to her late mother-in-law by wearing her timepiece. This wouldn't be the first time the royal has worn something of Princess Diana's, as she famously wore her Aquamarine cocktail ring the evening of her wedding, and her butterfly earrings during several royal engagements.

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.