Meghan Markle’s Engagement Dress Cost £56,000 ($75,000), And The British Public Is Not Amused


Meghan Markle’s engagement photos show her in an expensive dress that cost about twice what the average British worker earns in a year, and the British public is not at all happy about it, The Independent is reporting.

Officially, the former Suits star isn’t even a Royal yet, going simply by “Ms.” – the same type of address you would give to a London Starbucks barista or a Leeds meter maid. Still, it seems that she’s made her first Royal mistake: she appears in her engagement photos rocking a dress that retails for £56,000 (about $75,000).

That’s about twice what the average British worker earns in a year: according to a June GQ report, the average annual income for adult workers in the UK is £27,271 (about $36,500). In case you were wondering: by comparison, the average annual income in the U.S., according to a 2016 USA Today report, is in the neighborhood of $35,000, depending on how you want to slice up the statistics.

Needless to say, plopping down 75 grand on a dress is unbelievably extravagant, even by first-world standards.

In a series of photos released by Kensington Palace, the soon-to-be Duchess can be see next to her future husband, Prince Harry, whose simple blue suit is downright dull in comparison, rocking the high-dollar garment from British design house Ralph & Russo. According to The Sun, the designer describes the dress as a “black tulle gown with silk org­an­za skirt, hand appliquéd with silk tulle ruffles and em­broi­d­ered with gold feather thread-work.”

Needless to say, the British Royal-watching public is not impressed.

Some took exception to the fact that her dress is bra-less – almost scandalously revealing for a Royal.

Others were taken aback by the gown’s price tag.

“Meghan Markle’s dress for her photoshoot cost £56,000 then I am outraged. The Royal Family has certainly not cuaght [sic] the mood of the country if they think that kind of extravagance is OK while others go hungry and homeless.

“Not sure wearing a £56,000 dress for her engagement pictures will endear Meghan Markle to the British public!”

As it turns out, however, the British public is not on the hook for the extravagant cost of the dress. Sources indicate that the dress was “privately purchased” – meaning that Meghan might have paid for it with money she’s earned from Suits. She also didn’t pay the entire £56,000 price tag for the dress: fashion houses love loaning (or selling at steep discounts) their wares to celebrities in exchange for the free publicity.

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