Meghan Markle’s maternity wardrobe has cost more than $600,000, report says

The 'Meghan Maternity Effect' has generated an increase in sales for designers, but fans worry that news about her fashion spending will incite a Brexit-related backlash.

Moms-to-be clamoring for a sense of style during their pregnancies may be looking to Meghan Markle for inspiration.

But unless they are married to a prince and have access to royal funds, they will be out of luck in trying to pull together a maternity wardrobe that in any way matches that of the U.S.-born former TV actress.

Since the royal couple announced in October that they are expecting her first child, Meghan has appeared in about 75 outfits at a variety of official events, according to the fashion search engine Love the Sales. Each outfit has generated headlines and hundreds of thousands of social media likes.

Such positive P.R. comes at a heavy price: Love the Sales has calculated that the total cost of all Meghan’s maternity outfits comes to about $632,000.

Love the Sales added that this cost is more than seven times what Meghan’s royal sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, spent on her pregnancy wardrobe.

Meghan’s priciest outfit was a bespoke, black-and-white Oscar de la Renta dress, embellished with laser-cut birds, which she wore to the Geographic Society Gala Awards in Sydney in October. The dress cost an estimated $13,200, according to the Daily Mail.

But not all of Meghan’s outfits would be out of reach to less well-heeled moms-to-be.

Another popular outfit was a knit H&M maternity dress she wore in January that originally retailed for $35, Love the Sales reported. However, with the “Meghan Maternity Effect,” the dress sold out within 24 hours. When it popped up on eBay, it was being offered for as much as $200, Page Six added.

It can be argued that all the spending on the Duchess of Sussex’s wardrobe has been good for the fashion economy — or at least for the profile of some previously lesser known brands.

Searches for Australian designer Karen Gee shot up more than 5,800 percent, crashing her website, after Meghan wore the designer’s white shift dress in Australia after announcing she was pregnant, Love the Sales reported. Meanwhile, searches for Meghan’s Veja V-10 sneakers rose more than 300 percent after she was seen wearing them on a boat ride during her royal tour in Australia with Harry.

Love the Sales also calculated Meghan’s “best maternity moments,” judging by how many social media “likes” her ensemble generated.

At the top of the list is the one-shoulder silk Givenchy gown she wore to the British Fashion Awards in December. That look garnered 356,000 likes. Fans also loved the much more casual active-wear combination of Adidas sneakers and Lululemon leggings she wore when leaving her hotel after attending her baby shower in New York City in February. That ensemble generated 272,000 likes.

Since Meghan married Harry, all the costs for her clothing for official events is picked up by Prince Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall, an estate that generates income by renting out land and making investments, Cosmopolitan reported. The duchy pays for royal family members to fund their public lives, which also includes the costs to hire royal staff to run their different households.

Publicizing how much Meghan may be spending on her maternity wardrobe didn’t sit well with some fans who questioned the means used to calculate the $600,000 figure.

The Twitter account Duchess Meghan Forums argued that “all-ranking public figures wear expensive clothes” and said Meghan represents “the UK and should be allowed to dress accordingly.”

But fans also worried that headlines about the Duchess of Sussex’s wardrobe could generate a negative backlash against her and the royal family at a particularly difficult time when the United Kingdom is trying to negotiate its exit from the European Union.