Meghan Markle shared an idyllic glimpse of her California life, just days after beginning a very different chapter with Prince Harry and their children in the UK.
The Duchess of Sussex, 45, was pictured tending to a sun-drenched vegetable garden in a photograph shared by her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
Dressed for the warm California weather in a figure-skimming white T-shirt maxi dress, Meghan shielded herself from the sunshine beneath an oversized straw hat as she reached towards the plants.
A wire basket filled with freshly picked produce could be seen resting on the stone wall beside her, adding to the rustic, homegrown feel of the photograph.
Meghan shares glimpse of summer (@ Instagram)
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“Soaking in the last of summer in the garden,” As Ever captioned the image.
The timing of the post is particularly poignant. Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet returned to the UK earlier this week for an extended stay, making the dreamy photograph feel like a wistful snapshot of the California life the Duchess has built over the past six years.
Meghan’s love of gardening
The setting will be familiar to followers of Meghan’s lifestyle ventures. Gardening, seasonal produce and the rituals of life at home have become recurring themes in the world she has created around As Ever.
The new photograph captures that aesthetic perfectly, with Meghan appearing relaxed among the greenery while collecting produce from the garden.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have already chosen a UK school for Archie and Lilibet (@ Instagram)
And while neither Meghan nor As Ever explicitly said when the image was taken, the reference to the “last of summer” comes at a moment of enormous transition for the Sussex family.
The Duke and Duchess have retained strong ties to California, including their Montecito home, meaning the move is not necessarily a permanent goodbye to the US. But for Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, the family’s return to Britain marks a particularly significant change, with the children expected to begin school in the UK in September.
Meghan is trading California sunshine for the UK (@ Instagram)
A new chapter in the UK
The Sussexes’ return comes six years after Harry and Meghan stepped back as senior working members of the royal family and relocated to North America.
Their new life in Britain will not mark a return to royal duties. Instead, the couple are expected to continue pursuing their independent charitable and commercial projects while raising their children away from the royal spotlight.
The Duchess is set for a new chapter (@ NETFLIX)
For Meghan, that includes continuing to develop As Ever, which she has increasingly used to give followers glimpses of the quieter side of her life, from cooking and entertaining to gardening and seasonal produce.
Just before the family’s move, the Duchess appeared in another dreamy As Ever post filmed in an apple orchard, teasing: “A little hint of what’s coming.”