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Meghan Markle Just Received Her Coat of Arms—and It Breaks With Royal Tradition


Meghan Markle the newly-minted Duchess of Sussex, has been honored with her very own coat of arms, and it’s absolutely regal. Kensington Palace unveiled the design Friday morning with an Instagram post. The shield is red and blue, with gold lions covering the red half and three white quills separated by two gold streaks on the blue half, and flanked by Prince Harry’s gold lion on the left and a white songbird on the right. Underneath it all grows a field of California poppies.

The coat of arms is more than just stunning: It breaks with royal tradition. According to People magazine, the coat of arms is typically given to the father of the bride right before a royal wedding. So, in this case, it would go to Thomas Markle. However, in light of the controversy surrounding Thomas last week, the royal family decided to bestow the coat of arms to Meghan herself—which rarely, if ever, happens. This is yet another indication Meghan Markle is going to usher feminism into the royal family. It’s proof that she’s independent and not owned by a man or a family or an institution. She’s her own woman.

Kensington Palace followed up the Instagram post with a quick breakdown of the details (and numerous California shout-outs) on Instagram Stories. “The Duchess worked closely with the College of Arms to create a Coat of Arms that was personal and representative,” Kensington Palace wrote. “The Blue background of the shield represents the Pacific Ocean off the California Coast. The two golden rays across the shield are symbolic of the sunshine of The Duchess’s home state. The three quills represent communication and the power of words. Beneath the shield sits a collection of golden poppies, California’s state flower.”

Kensington Palace elaborated in a statement on its website that alongside the golden poppies is wintersweet, a plant that grows at Kensington Palace. The palace also shared some more details about the coat of arms, which was “agreed and approved by” the Queen and Thomas Woodcock, Garter Principal King of Arms and Senior Herald in England. “It is customary for Supporters of the shield to be assigned to Members of the Royal Family, and for wives of Members of the Royal Family to have one of their husband’s Supporters and one relating to themselves,” the statement reads, referring to the lion and the songbird on either side of the shield. “The Supporter relating to The Duchess of Sussex is a songbird with wings elevated as if flying and an open beak, which with the quill represents the power of communication.”

“A Coronet has also been assigned to The Duchess of Sussex,” the statement added. (Peep the crown on top of the shield and around the songbird’s neck.) “It is the Coronet laid down by a Royal Warrant of 1917 for the sons and daughters of the Heir Apparent. It is composed of two crosses patée, four fleurs-de-lys and two strawberry leaves.”

In addition to the details, Kensington Palace explained the composition of the coat of arms. “The arms of a married woman are shown with those of her husband and the technical term is that they are impaled, meaning placed side by side in the same shield,” the statement reads.

“The Duchess of Sussex took a great interest in the design,” Woodcock said in the statement. “Good heraldic design is nearly always simple and the Arms of The Duchess of Sussex stand well beside the historic beauty of the quartered British Royal Arms.” Californians represent!

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The Brand That Made Meghan Markle's Engagement Coat Is Renaming it the 'Meghan'


The Internet all but combusted this morning when Kensington Palace announced that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were officially engaged. Then, there was a formal photo call at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Gardens, which sparked another round of overjoyed fan reactions. To top it all off, the 36-year-old actress stepped out with new fiancé wearing a coat that sent everyone into yet another spiral.

Everyone had questions after seeing Markle and Prince Harry together as a newly engaged couple—mainly, what’s the story behind her sparkly engagement ring, and which lucky designers dressed her for the big reveal? The makers of Markle’s first royal look have thankfully been identified: She opted for a white coat by Canadian brand Line the Label, a green dress by P.A.R.O.S.H., and heels by Aquazurra.

PHOTO: Samir Hussein

Shortly after the outfit credits were identified, Markle’s exact Line the Label coat sold out, with the brand reportedly experiencing some technical difficulties amid all the royal excitement.

John Muscat, President and Co-Founder of Line the Label, released a statement shortly after the sighting: “We are incredibly honored that Meghan chose to wear a LINE coat to mark this very special occasion. Meghan has an effortlessly chic sense of style, which we’ve always admired.”

Markle has been a fan of the brand for some time now. Before the engagement photo call, the Suits star wore trench coat by the knitwear brand to the Invictus games back in September. (This was also the first time she stepped out publicly with Prince Harry.)

INVICTUS GAMES 2017

PHOTO: Danny Lawson – PA Images

Given all this excitement (and Markle’s love for the brand), Muscat announced that Line the Label would be renaming the coat she wore to the photo call after the future royal. “We know this particular coat is one of her favorite pieces so we have officially decided to name it the ‘Meghan,” he said in a statement. “We are elated for Meghan and wish her a lifetime of happiness with Prince Harry.”

While all that interest in the newly dubbed ‘Meghan’ coat wiped the retailer clean of inventory, there’s still hope if you’re dying for Markle’s exact outerwear: A representative for Line the Label tells Glamour that you can place an order for the coat by sending an email to line@nkpr.net. The Meghan coat retails for $799 Canadian dollars, which is about $626.50 in U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate.

While LINE is a clear Markle favorite, her garments from other retailers have also attracted some serious traffic. Last September, her burgundy dress from Aritzia and her white ‘Husband’ button-down from Misha Nonoo were also swiped up fast by royal fans. Safe to say that we’ll likely get even more iconic—and instantly sold-out—fashion moments from the bride-to-be in the months ahead.

Related Stories:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Relationship: A Complete Timeline

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Officially Engaged—See The Royal Family’s Announcement

Prince Harry Had a Crush on Meghan Markle Years Before They Even Met



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The Apple Event Had One Female Presenter—and All Anyone Talked About Was Her Pink Coat


There was good news for women and bad news for women at Apple’s conference Tuesday. The good: A female executive took the stage. The bad: All anyone could talk about was her pink lace trench coat.

Almost immediately after Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts took the stage (the only female presenter during the two hour event, by the way), Twitter erupted with commentary on her Burberry pink lace trench—some of it complimentary, some of it downright offensive. Either way, you’d hardly know Ahrendts was talking about the retail plan for one of the world’s most valuable brands.

Apple often touts itself as an inclusive and diverse company, but its onstage presence tends to be anything but. In fact, just a handful of women have ever been featured onstage at Apple’s many events to discuss or demo products, while dozens and dozens of white men continue to circle through.

Even when women do get the chance to represent the tech giant, they only get mere minutes to speak. As Mic reported in June, women got just 7 percent of the speaking time at Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference 2017 keynote. Men spoke for approximately 117 minutes, while female speakers received just nine minutes of speaking time. Yikes.

Meanwhile, public support for more female leadership in the tech world is stronger than ever. As The Cut reported, social media lost its collective mind in 2016, when Bozoma Saint John, Apple Music’s Head of Global Consumer Marketing, took to the stage. It finally felt like Apple was representing its consumers with smart executives, no matter their gender.

We can certainly applaud women like Ahrendts rocking their personal style on a big day, but it’s important to remember that Silicon Valley is suffering from a devastating gender imbalance—one that Apple CEO Tim Cook has even admitted being a part of.

“Women are such an important part of the workforce,” Cook told the student body at Auburn University in April. “If STEM-related fields continue to have this low representation of women, then there just will not be enough innovation in the United States. That’s just the simple fact of it.”

While Cook may say he’s willing to push for women in tech, Business Insider reports that just 23 percent of employees in technical roles at Apple are women.

As for why tech is so egregiously failing women, Cook told Mashable in 2015, “I think it’s our fault — ‘our’ meaning the whole tech community. I think in general we haven’t done enough to reach out and show young women that it’s cool to do it and how much fun it can be.”



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