Meghan beats Kate as key royal influencer says Lyst

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 14, 2019

Meghan Markle is now the biggest royal influencer, taking over from her sister-in-law Kate Middleton in the top spot, new data analysis by Lyst shows.

The company analysed over 20 million search queries over the past two years and looked at “some of the most talked-about fashion moments” from the two duchesses. In a blog post, it said that Meghan is the clear winner, although the spectacular search leaps she inspired in 2017 and 2018 aren’t being repeated quite so visibly this year.

On average, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton’s, fashion choices “lead to a 119% increase in online demand over the week following a public appearance.” But when it comes to the Duchess of Sussex, the former Meghan Markle, “demand more than doubles, going up an average of 216%,” even with that recent slowdown.

Her most influential moment came in March when she wore a silver and gold brocade dress to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Prince Charles’ Investiture at Buckingham Palace. In the following 24 hours, this triggered a 500% rise in online demand for brocade dresses.

Kate Middleton’s biggest 2019 moment so far was also in March when she wore a red Catherine Walker coat for the Commonwealth Day services at Westminster Abbey. Online searches for similar pieces instantly rose 225%.

Lyst also said that their influence has subtle differences with Meghan boosting demand for individual colours while Kate helps drive traffic to specific designer brands. 

Among Kate’s 10 most influential moments, seven of them related to designer labels with Jenny Packham being a big beneficiary. Meanwhile seven out of 10 Meghan moments related to colour.

Although Meghan is the most influential of the two overall, as mentioned, it looks like her impact is slowing down slightly. Back in late 2017, she drove a 164% increase in online searches (in just 24 hours) for beige coats after wearing one by Sentaler. Her brown Stuart Weitzman boots drove a 52% increase in demand and searches for the colour brown increased by 103% on Lyst.

More recent appearances have seen a slower reaction. For instance, her first appearance after giving birth in May saw a 46% increase in searches for white trench dresses after she wore one by Wales Bonner, while demand for that label rose 28% compared to the previous week. But she also wore shoes by Manolo Blahnik yet that label's demand actually fell by 5%. 

Meanwhile, her blue Givenchy worn at Trooping the Colour, boosted search queries for the brand by only 8%, although demand for navy blue in general increased by 29% over the following 24 hours.