Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, touched down in Melbourne on Thursday morning local time for a day in the Australian city, where they were greeted by thousands of fans lining Government House Drive. Plenty of fans offered up flowers and other gifts to the royal couple, with baby gifts also making an appearance after the couple announced that Meghan is pregnant.
One young fan decided that instead of buying flowers or stuffed toys, he wanted to make something special for the duchess that she would be able to wear. According to the Sydney Morning Herald , 6-year-old Gavin Hazelwood made Meghan a painted gold necklace out of noodles, and in a true display of class, the duchess gratefully accepted the gift, and wore it for the rest of her walk up the street as she continued to greet adoring fans.
Per The Age , Hazelwood had been “feeling too unwell” to go to school that morning, but had somehow sneakily found the energy to still make use of his arts and crafts table to make the duchess a present.
Hazelwood arrived in the Botanical Gardens with his mother and sister, carrying the necklace and a sign that reads, “I made you a necklace,” in a bid to get Meghan’s attention.
“It was my idea … [but] Mum helped a bit,” Hazelwood said. “I did the pasta with gold paint. Mum helped me thread through the necklace.”
He also rather cleverly chose a navy blue and silver accented ribbon for the necklace, which he would have had no idea at the time would perfectly match Meghan’s custom designed Dion Lee dress. While she wore the necklace the entire way up the street, she took it off along with her cream-colored coat before attending the formal reception inside Government House.
The Australian designer was honored to have the duchess choose his fashion brand for the occasion. She paired the mid-calf length asymmetrical dress with a pair of matching navy blue pointed pumps.
“It’s a whole other level. I can’t say our website has ever crashed as a result of anyone wearing our clothes,” Lee said. He added that the custom dress was made “based on a previous dress of ours that she really liked,” according to information from her stylist. Although the dress was designed for the duchess, Lee has decided to put it into production, and says it will be available for pre-order in a few hours.
