Meghan Markle’s luxurious look at a recent charity event is at odds with her desire to be seen as down-to-earth, experts claim.
“Meghan may desire to connect with everyday people, but if so, she has to be fully committed. Wearing that kind of expensive jewelry communicates, ‘I am in the upper class,’” Ryan McCormick, Managing Partner at Goldman McCormick PR, told the Daily Mail.
“So we have two conflicting messages here, and that’s one of the reasons why it could be challenging for some members of the public to emotionally connect with her.”
McCormick was referencing the accessories Markle wore to Kevin Costner’s One805LIVE! charity concert over the weekend: Princess Diana’s Cartier Tank Française watch (worth $24,000), a Jennifer Meyer tennis bracelet ($5,000), a Cartier Love bracelet ($7,000) and her diamond engagement ring from Prince Harry (said to be worth $160,000).
The Duchess of Sussex’s stunning set of jewelry — which she paired with a chic navy blue Carolina Herrera halter dress — is worth “multiple times the average annual salary of most people,” the expert noted.
“This definitely makes it harder for the Duchess to be perceived as ‘one of us.’”
During an April interview with the New York Times, the “Suits” alum, 44, responded to accusations that her high-class lifestyle came off as “unrelatable.”
“Don’t they know my life hasn’t always been like this?” she posited, gesturing to her sprawling Montecito, Calif., estate. At the time, author Julia Moskin also noted that the mom of two seemed “bothered” by claims she’s “out of touch.”
But on the set of her Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan,” she’s also been known to don prohibitively expensive clothing — including a pricey silk frock by Ulla Johnson ($1,000), a $3,000 Carolina Herrera dress and a $600 CO blouse, among others.
Following the March premiere of “With Love, Meghan,” the “As Ever” founder linked many of her wardrobe items to her ShopMy store — though it’s since been removed.
Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told the Daily Mail she believes Markle’s illustrious wardrobe and jewelry may be about fitting into her neighborhood — which is also occupied by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Her habit of wearing hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry feels less like a play for an audience and more like a way of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ in Santa Barbara,” Schofield told the outlet. “I simply think she’s competing with her very famous and very rich neighbors.”
A rep for Markle did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Markle and Prince Harry, 41, married in 2018 and have since welcomed two children: Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
After stepping down as senior members of the royal family in 2020, they relocated to the tony Santa Barbara enclave of Montecito, where they’ve raised their two children in a $14 million mansion.
In a March interview with People, Markle detailed her comings and goings in the famed community. “We go to a lot of dinners, and not just in people’s homes or private rooms; we just go into the restaurant,” she told the outlet.
“I have a couple of girlfriends up here; these are stay-at-home moms and working women with normal jobs, not in the public eye. We went from just connecting through our kids to having girls’ night out or doing Pilates together.”