Meghan Markle appeared to wear the Queen's favourite nail polish, Essie Ballet Slipper, for her royal wedding to Prince Harry. The pale pink, opaque nail polish shade has been worn by brides and royalty for decades. In fact, the Queen has worn the £7.99 nail polish for over 30 years.
There's a reason you'll never see The Duchess of Cambridge or The Duchess of Sussex wearing the latest metallic or marble manicure trend: the Queen allegedly won't allow it. Royals are expected to wear their nails neat, clean, and groomed at all times. If you're not going to wear your nails bare and buffed, nude nail polish is allowed, as is one particular shade of pink: Essie Ballet Slippers (so it's no surprise that it's the shade Markle picked).
The Duchess of Sussex's sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, wore the shade Allure by Essie on her wedding day back in 2011.
It's been previously reported that Markle favours a salon London salon Nails & Brows in Mayfair (featured in our best London manicures round-up). Manicures there start from £33 and go up £66 plus, depending on the add-ons you choose like a massage or shellac.
Committing to a signature shade will definitely save you time at your next manicure appointment, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for creativity. When Middleton announced her engagement back in November 2010, she wasn't even wearing a stitch of nail polish (but her nails were shaped and groomed).
Markle did opt to wear nail polish for her ring reveal and engagement announcement—a sheer, nude-pink shade that looks just like Ballet Slippers. No one was able to identify the exact shade, however. In every public appearance since, she's been spotted wearing a sheer but bright white manicure or a classic nude, with her nails filed square.
