Meghan Markle pairs ‘Santa Barbara’ sunglasses with Heidi Merrick £650 silk dress and her favourite heels to watch Prince Harry play polo in Miami

She was born and raised in Los Angeles.

So it’s no surprise Meghan Markle knows how to pull off the perfect California chic look.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, opted for a very expensive casual luxury look on Friday as she joined husband Prince Harry at a glitzy charity polo match in Miami.

Meghan, who was joined at the event by her close friend Serena Williams, put on a sensationally stylish display in a $812 (£650) dress from California designer Heidi Merrick at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge.

The royal, who has worn the designer before, paired the flowing white sundress with a statement bow and cut out back with a £2,650 Maison Valentino bag.

The  One Stud White Leather Crossbody Bag is a favourite of Meghan’s who has worn it several times before.

Boosting her height, the Duchess added a pair of £565 pair of Aquazzura  ‘Purist 105’ Nude Nappa Leather Pumps.

Finishing off the look, Meghan fittingly accessorised with £175 Heidi Merrick ‘Santa Barbara’ sunglasses, named after the town she and Harry live with their two children. 

Adding a touch of glamour to the look, Meghan opted for a pair of vintage Chanel earrings, Princess Diana’s Cartier  Gold Tank Française Watch, a £7,050 Cartier ‘Love’ Yellow Gold Bracelet, and her new favourite Ariel Gordon Diamond Hex Tennis bracelet, which is thought to be a Valentines’ gift from Harry.

Showing off her natural beauty, the royal opted for a lowkey make-up look, with a light layer of creamy foundation, coloured in eyebrows and black mascara.

 Images showed a delightful – but slightly tired-looking – Harry celebrating with his teammates after the dynamic polo match, applauding his opponents before stepping up to accept his prize from his glamorous wife.

Meanwhile Harry opted for a pair of cream trousers, a pale grey jacket, and a crisp blue shirt, while donning some slip-on tan shoes – before changing into his team uniform and taking to the field for the match. 

The couple were then seen striding out onto the field while surrounded by a crew of cameramen who captured their every move as they chatted with Harry’s teammates. 

Harry and Meghan pulled up at the swish venue at around 4:30pm local time, with a film crew in tow shooting their every move. 

The cameras continued to roll as they hopped out of their white SUV with Harry’s Argentine polo player pal Nacho and were led to the clubhouse by excited staff as the Duke prepared to go head-to-head in the charity match against the Argentine star. 

The dapper Duke appeared moments later on a terrace where he was seen chatting with guests and posing for group photos. 

‘He looked the quintessential networker – shaking hands, smiling for photos. He looked in his element,’ one onlooker said. 

While Harry took to the field, Meghan was kept company by her former tennis pro pal Serena, who was seen sipping on a glass of champagne as they mingled with their fellow guests and friends. 

At one point, Serena and Harry enjoyed a warm hug as the Prince checked in on the action away from the match, embracing like old friends – having grown close in the years since the Duke and Duchess began dating.  

Soon after his arrival, Harry changed into his team uniform and took to the field on horseback, getting ready to take on good friend Nacho – with the two men captaining opposing teams in the three-way tournament. 

Harry looked thrilled to be back in the saddle and was seen grinning from ear-to-ear as he warmed up with his teammates on the field.  

As well as taking to the field during the match as a player, Harry is also taking on duties as an executive TV producer this weekend when he takes part in filming for an upcoming Netflix documentary project about the glamorous world of professional polo. 

Meanwhile, Meghan is working on her own non-fiction series for the streaming giant, with which the couple have a five-year production deal that was signed in 2020 and is thought to be worth around $100 million. 

Meghan’s project will focus on lifestyle-centric topics like gardening and cooking in a move that will likely allow her to cross-promote her new brand American Riviera Orchard, while the Duke will delve into the ‘aesthetic and social’ world of polo, a sport that he has played since he was a child. 

According to a statement released by Archewell on Thursday night, the show will ‘provide viewers with unprecedented access to the world of professional polo.’ 

They add: ‘Known primarily for its aesthetic and social scene, the series will pull the curtain back on the grit and passion of the sport, capturing players and all it takes to compete at the highest level.’ 

As well as Harry’s match on Friday, filming is also expected to take place at the US Open Polo Championships, which take place in Wellington, Florida, over the weekend. 

It has been a busy week for Prince Harry, who has appeared at two different panel events on different sides of the country since Monday. 

On Wednesday he traveled to San Francisco to take part in the Uplift summit held by life coaching company BetterUp, for whom he serves as Chief Impact Officer.

Harry took part in a conversation with The Office star Mindy Kaling at the $1,600-a-ticket event, however – unlike many of the panel discussions and roundtables that took place during the summit – the Duke’s appearance was not broadcast on the livestream. 

Harry had previously been advertised as a speaker for the Uplift conference, however his specific event was not included in the official agenda – and so the only way of seeing him was to be present at the pricey two-day summit.

Experts told DailyMail.com that this may well have been part of a coordinated effort on the part of the Duke and his PR advisers at Archewell to manage photographs and videos from his public appearances – with any output being edited by Archewell or event organizers before being released. 

He made a similarly under-the-radar appearance at a panel discussion event in Miami on Thursday night, when he opened up about his love of Africa, while paying tribute to the work that his late mother Princess Diana had done to help those affected by HIV and AIDS. 

‘Africa’s in my heart, Africa’s in my soul,’ he said. ‘I first went there when I was 12… 13 years old, and after so many years I wanted to give back to it because it had given me so much.

‘The vast open space, the cultures, the communities, the people, the wildlife, just the freedom was a huge piece of why I loved Africa so much. 

‘We called [our charity] Sentebale – in Lesotho, the local language, it means “forget me not” and it’s really focused on ensuring the younger generation are quite literally not forgotten.’ 

He went on to honor his mother’s work in Africa, explaining how it helped to shape his own charitable endeavors in the region – and his desire to launch Sentebale in the first place.

‘My mother had a strong focus on HIV and AIDS but also of the younger generation because it’s their futures that are being stolen from them,’ he explained. 

Harry appeared alongside the charity’s chair Dr. Sophie Chandauka, as well as Alix Lebec, the founder and CEO of an organization called Lebec, a company that aims to ‘reimagine how global capital markets can be a force for good’, Hector Mujica, the head of economic opportunity at Google.org, and Sam Bakhshandehpour, the CEO of José Andrés’ hotel group. 

Dr. Chandauka also attended the polo match, where she was seen posing alongside Harry, Nacho – who is an ambassador for Sentebale – and the charity’s CEO Richard Miller. 

Harry co-founded Sentebale alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, with the aim of helping vulnerable children in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi, including those who are affected by extreme poverty and the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

The charity has been closely intertwined with the sport of polo for years, with the Duke regularly taking part in charity matches held in aid of Sentebale causes. 

Last year, the Duke jetted off to Singapore to take part in a polo match with Nacho as part of the Sentebale Polo Cup, which returned to the country for the first time since 2017. 

Harry’s love of polo extends well beyond his charity work however. 

The youngest son of King Charles has been playing the sport since he was a child, and used to regularly compete in matches alongside his father and his brother, Prince William. 

However it has been years since the Duke has taken to the field with his family members amid an ongoing and very well publicized rift between Harry and the rest of the royals.