Meghan Markle Proudly Shows Off Baby Bump With Prince Harry at London Fundraiser
The pregnant princess brought some added glamor to an annual British charity show.
Chris Jackson
Meghan Markle ticked a traditional royal box when she attended the Royal Variety Performance in London on Monday night, stealing the limelight in a glamorous monochrome outfit by London label SAFiYAA.
Chris Jackson
The five-months pregnant princess showed she clearly has no sartorial reservations about revealing her baby bump to the world with her choice of the brand, a red-carpet favorite, for the world’s longest running variety show.
IAN VOGLER
Students of British pop history will recall that it was at a Royal Variety Show in 1963 where John Lennon asked Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret to join in, saying: “For our last number, I’d like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry.”
The very British tradition—a fundraiser event for the Royal Variety charity, of which the queen is the sole patron—combines music with comedy sketches, dance performances, and magic acts.
Senior members of the royal family are always in attendance as guests of honor and receive bows and curtsies from the performers on stage.
Meghan was the undoubted star of the night, as anticipation builds ahead of the birth of her and Harry’s first kid, who is expected in mid-April.
Her $1,000 top, a sequinned bustier, had been modified slightly with a black ribbon wrapped around the waist to create a more flattering maternity style.
Meghan met the British pop band Take That as she headed into the event, and told the band: “I’m looking forward to seeing you closing the show.”
Other acts on the bill included singers Rick Astley and George Ezra, the cast of the musical Hamilton, and the winner of a British TV talent show, comedian Lost Voice Guy, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, instead delivering his comedy routine on his tablet.
“Now that I’ve hit the big time, nothing will shut me up,” he said, using his speech app. “Unless there is a power cut.”