Meghan Markle likes her new handbag so much she's actually invested in it

The Duchess of Sussex is known worldwide for being savvy, smart and running a business. After all, the former Suits star used to have a hugely popular blog before she was a royal, known as The Tig, and of course, she is about to launch her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

So it comes as no surprise that Prince Harry's wife has actually quietly invested in a fashion brand, called Cesta Collective, and what's more, it is run entirely by women.

© Casta Collective

The Duchess recently revealed in an interview with The New York Times that she discovered the brand like many of us do - while online shopping. Telling the publication, the mother-of-two said: "I spend a lot of time just Googling, looking for brands. When people are online looking for things or reading things, I’m trying to find great new designers, especially in different territories.”

Meghan went out to dinner with her husband in 2023, rocking one of the bucket bags from Cesta Collective. Immediately, this design sold out, and the brand's founders, Erin Ryder and Courtney Weinblatt Fasciano, were delighted.

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They revealed: "We were on our way to Mexico to shoot a look book. We got off the plane, got our internet on and, all of a sudden, this one style that had been a little bit sleepy was totally sold through, and we were getting a lot of ‘back in stock’ sign-ups. We knew there had to be some reason that these were selling so quickly, so Courtney did some internet sleuthing to find out. We had more sales in one day than we’ve ever had.”

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The pair reached out to Meghan with a charming thank you note, and the relationship between the trio developed. Meghan then offered to invest in a minority stake.

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Speaking about the 'Meghan effect' - which arguably started during Meghan's first public appearance as a working royal when she carried the now iconic Strathberry handbag - the brunette beauty said: "Times where I know there is a global spotlight, and attention will be given to each detail of what I may or may not be wearing, then I support designers that I have really great friendships with, and smaller, up-and-coming brands that haven’t gotten the attention that they should be getting. That’s one of the most powerful things that I’m able to do, and that’s simply wearing, like, an earring.”