Kate and Meghan Rocked Similar Belted Dresses for Their First Solo Trips With Queen Elizabeth

Now that she’s officially a royal, Meghan Markle has “girls trips” privileges with Queen Elizabeth! The British monarch and her new granddaughter-in-law embarked on their first joint engagement on Thursday, June 14, less than a month after Meghan tied the knot with Prince Harry and married into the royal family. (You may have seen a few casual mentions about those low-key nuptials.) By contrast, Kate Middleton didn’t go on her first solo outing with the Queen until 11 months after her 2011 royal wedding to Prince William.

For their June 14 outing, Meghan and the Queen took the Royal Train to Chesire, an English county about 180 miles northwest of London. There, the two royals opened a new bridge in the town of Widnes, attended the opening of the Storehouse Theatre in the town of Chester (laughing gleefully as they watched a children’s dance performance), and lunched at Chester’s Town Hall.

And just as she did on her wedding day, Meghan wore Givenchy for the special outing. She opted for a light beige pencil dress with a cape top. The Queen, meanwhile, wore a floral dress and a green Stuart Parvin coat not dissimilar to the bright green coat she wore to Meghan’s wedding and not dissimilar to the “green screen” coat that once launched a Photoshop battle.

Meanwhile, on their first outing, Kate and the Queen also traveled by train, riding the rails from London’s Kings Cross St. Pancras Station to the city of Leicester — about 100 miles north-northwest of the English capital — as part of Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee Tour in March 2012. They stopped at Leicester Cathedral and De Montfort University, where Kate selected the winner of a contest to design a shoe for her. And for that outing, the Duchess wore a teal peplum L.K. Bennett suit with a pencil skirt. She didn’t have a cape, sure, but she did have a James Lock pillbox hat.

Though Kate and Meghan’s first outings with the Queen were definitely unique, it’s lovely that they both dressed somewhat similarly by both donning chic belted dresses with pencil skirts. Despite their style differences, one thing is for sure — both Duchesses are royal fashion icons!

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