Meghan Markle's friend shared a previously unseen photo of the Duchess

It's such a cinematic portrait.

Meghan Markle at Royal Albert Hall
Meghan Markle at Royal Albert Hall
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It's such a cinematic portrait.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have many friends in the arts and entertainment industries - the designer Misha Nonoo, George and Amal Clooney, Chrissy Teigen, and many more.

For those of us who miss the days when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were on Instagram themselves, their circle thankfully also includes the photographer Misan Harriman, who took the officially released portrait of Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor on her first birthday and also shared a couple of intimate images from the little girl's party, which was held at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.

Well, Misan has been at it again: he shared a gorgeous previously unseen portrait of Meghan to wish her a happy birthday on Instagram last week.

The photo in question shows the Duchess during her days as a senior royal. It appears to have been taken in October 2019, when she attended the One Young World Summit Opening Ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In the photo, Meghan is facing away from the camera and towards the stage, while going down a flight of stairs.

That day, the Duchess wore a simple yet elegant royal purple dress, with a high neckline, long sleeves, a cinched waistline, and a discreet slit on one calf. She paired it with navy suede pointed court shoes à la Kate Middleton. Marie Claire previously reported that the dress hailed from Babaton for Aritizia, while the shoes were from Carrie Bradshaw favourite Manolo Blahnik. Meghan wore her hair down and artfully wavy, with a long fringe.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the One Young World Summit Opening Ceremony at Royal Albert Hall on October 22, 2019 in London, England. The Duchess is Vice-President of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust, which is partnering with One Young World this year.

That particular event came just weeks before the Sussexes flew off to Vancouver Island in late 2019. They spent Christmas there with baby Archie, then announced their decision to step down from their duties as senior royals in January 2020.

They left the UK and eventually settled in Southern California in March of that year, and the rest is history.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.