SHANE WATSON: Meghan's not playing it safe any more. She's back - in £3,300 of stealth wealth burgundy... without those pesky tights

It’s been eight years and ten months since Harry and Meghan visited Nottingham on their first official outing as an engaged couple.

Today they were back on walkabout, though a lot has changed in the intervening years – not least their appearance.

Back in 2017, Meghan Markle wore a Mackage tightly tailored navy double-breasted coat over a black turtle neck body suit, with a beige midi skirt and Kurt Geiger black overknee boots.

Memorably, she carried one of Strathberry’s £595 midi tote handbags, which instantly sold out, putting the Edinburgh brand on the map and establishing the Meghan Effect from the word go.

Both she and Harry (he wore a cashmere scarf knotted in the neck of his overcoat) were dressed smartly, safely and exactly as you would expect a royal-couple-in-waiting to dress.

Today Meghan was wearing her hair in a tightly scraped back ponytail and her outfit was a £3,386 textbook lesson in fashionable tonal dressing, right down to her £650 Jennifer Chamandi rich brown high-heeled Lorenzo 105 pumps.

She wore a £1,495 mahogany-coloured, single-breasted oversize doubleface cashmere Dona coat by Joseph, open over a £345 Joseph dark brown crew neck Yarra top, tucked into a £175 plum, split pencil Oliena skirt by The Fold.

It was cinched with what looks like a £26 Triple Keeper belt by Marks & Spencer’s and paired with a £695 Joseph espresso mini Loaf woven leather bag – so British labels top to toe.

In the brief time that she was a working member of the Royal Family, Meghan complained she was expected to wear tights under skirts.

Today she was noticeably bare-legged in heels and fashionably understated in stealth wealth gradations of brown and wine, looking every inch the duchess with designs on fashion.

Harry, meanwhile, looked less buttoned up (the weather allowed him to leave his coat and scarf at home) but, it has to be said, a good deal less smiley than he was in 2017.

Meghan leaves her crown jewels at home! Duchess wears Princess Diana's watch and trendy fitness tracker but not her engagement ring on visit to Nottingham 

The Duchess of Sussex did not wear her engagement ring from Prince Harry for their first joint public appearance together since returning to the UK.  

Although Meghan, 45, has not been pictured wearing the ring in almost nine months, one may have expected her to bring the diamond sparkler out for today's royal-style outing in Nottingham. 

It is the city where the couple carried out their first royal walkabout together after announcing their engagement in 2017.

Meghan wore a £1,500 cashmere coat and burgundy heels from London-based brand Jennifer Chamandi worth £650, but she kept her accessories to a minimum. 

The duchess has not been seen wearing the jewel since February 2026, when she attended an NBA game in California. 

Instead, Meghan accessorised her autumnal outfit – including the burgundy coat and matching knit jumper both from Joseph – with her wedding band and her bedazzled fitness tracker that she is now rarely seen without. 

In addition to the Oura ring hidden inside a custom, diamond-encrusted gold 'sleeve' from Logan Hollowell, she wore a new, unidentified gold band on her right hand.

She also sported Princess Diana's Cartier Tank Française watch, worth £17,800 ($24,020), which was gifted to her after she married the Duke of Sussex.

Harry proposed to Meghan in 2017 – enlisting the late Queen Elizabeth II's regular jeweller, Cleave & Company, to design a unique jewel for his bride-to-be. 

The prince had even snuck a ring from Meghan's jewellery box so that the designers knew her size and, in a particularly touching tribute to his late mother, asked them to 'harvest' the diamonds from one of Diana's bracelets.

Since the proposal in Nottingham Cottage – the couple's former house in the grounds of Kensington Palace – it is believed the ring has been altered four times. At Trooping the Colour in June 2019, Meghan was spotted wearing the ring with a thinner band than its original design.

She also had little diamonds set down the sides of the ring, worth around £126,000 ($150,000), in what jewellery expert Arabel Lebrusan suggested was a more American style.

In his book Finding Freedom, royal expert Omid Scobie noted the decision to resize and reset the engagement ring with a new diamond band in 2019 was Harry's idea.

In the biography, jeweller-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz reportedly said of the prince: 'He's the loveliest person ever. So romantic, so thoughtful.'

The authors continued: 'So much so that Harry also thought to have Lorraine resize and reset Meghan's engagement ring with a new diamond band.'

In 2022, there was further speculation that Meghan altered the ring for a second time when she attended the Invictus Games in The Hague, Netherlands, and it appeared that she had added additional diamonds to the setting surrounding the central one.

The ring was notably absent during several of Meghan's appearances in 2023, when a loose stone was reportedly being repaired – in what some believed was a third alteration.

In 2025, eagle-eyed royal fans noted that the ring's central diamond looked more like an emerald cut than the original cushion cut when it was seen in a trailer for Meghan's since-axed Netflix series.

During their appearance in Nottingham, a crowd of 100 fans gathered to greet Harry and Meghan. 

The duchess accepted bouquets and balloons from well-wishers as she told them 'it's great to be back'. Harry repeatedly placed a protective arm around her as they posed for selfies and chatted with members of the public. 

At one point, Meghan appeared to show someone in the crowd her jewellery.

Their last official public appearance together in Britain was at Queen Elizabeth's funeral in 2022.