The Inspiring Story Behind Kate Middleton and Queen Camilla's Favorite Bag
Karwai Tang/WireImage Kate Middleton in Scarborough on November 3, 2022
Kate Middleton's latest go-to bag has both style and a feel-good factor.
On her official visit to Scarborough with Prince William last Thursday, the Princess of Wales, 40, hugged fans and posed for selfies, accessorizing her monochromatic look with the Nano Montreal, a miniature-sized top handle bag in a rich toffee color by British brand DeMellier.
"Kate always looks so stunning and polished. I loved the all-camel look, it was so beautiful, timeless and understated," Mireia Llusia-Lindh, founder and designer of DeMellier, tells PEOPLE. "It's such a huge honor, I cannot emphasize enough what amazing ambassadors they are for Britain as a country and for British brands like ours."
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Karwai Tang/WireImage Kate Middleton in Scarborough on November 3, 2022
Founded by Harvard graduate Llusia-Lindh in 2017, the company has always had more than just eye-catching design at its core. For every single purchase, DeMellier funds a set of life-saving vaccines for orphaned children with the "A Bag, A Life" initiative with SOS Children's Villages, the global charity whose mission it is to make sure that every child has the love, care and support of a family.
"I wanted to give back as part of the ethos of the brand and it was hard to choose a charity, but as a mother of three, I felt that children dying from preventable causes was beyond heartbreaking," says the Spanish-born designer, whose parents supported the charity when she was growing up.
DeMellier The Nano Montreal by DeMellier
To date, the brand has funded the equivalent of 350,000 vaccines and medical treatments.
"Beyond selling beautiful handbags and empowering women, we also are contributing to a greater good and that's something that everyone in the team really values strongly. It's very rewarding and very important to myself and the whole team — we do it because we believe in it," she says.
Last week's royal outing was not the first time that Kate has been spotted wearing the $395 micro-bag (which can also be worn as a cross-body bag). She wore it to the National Portrait Gallery last May and opted for the navy version on an official visit to Northern Ireland in October.
PA The Princess of Wales at The National Portrait Gallery - May 2021
The brand got its first taste of royal fame when a newly-engaged Meghan Markle wore their Venice bag in dark green on one of her first royal walkabouts alongside Prince Harry in 2018. A year later, Camilla, now Queen Camilla, purchased the same bag and it's become one of her most-used styles. (Camilla enjoys the bag so much that she has it in multiple colors!)
"We have no idea how that happened! Both of them bought the bag on the website — it's great to see it enjoyed by different generations like that," says Llusia-Lindh.
Getty (2) Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Meghan Markle with the same DeMellier bag
Princess Beatrice is also a fan of the brand and Zara Tindall chose one of their discreet black clutches for the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth in September.
Llusia-Lindh declines to comment on which royal wearer causes the biggest crash to DeMellier's newly-launched website. "I couldn't say but every time there is a royal wearing a bag of ours, we see a strong impact," she shares. "There are very few people in the world who have their reach and their life is dedicated to serving their country, which is why it's such an honor for us."
For Thursday's event, which saw the royal couple launch a funding collaboration between The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Two Ridings Community Foundation to support young people's mental health, Kate paired the bag with a pair of $6 earrings from Accessorize, a fitted turtle neck dress and a wool mid-length camel coat from Max & Co.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images Kate Middleton in Scarborough November 3, 2022
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The modern and minimalist style bags are designed by an all-female team and handcrafted in an ethically certified factory in Spain that aims to be fully solar-powered by 2023. After several requests from customers, the company is set to launch its first-ever vegan collection next spring, featuring a surprisingly sweet ingredient.
"After two years we found a vegan leather and it's made from apple waste, which is exciting!" Llusia-Lindh says.
With a cashmere knitwear collection that launched last year and talks of a standalone store at some point in the future, Llusia-Lindh says her focus is on staying true to the company's core values.
"We will keep doing what we are doing, producing beautiful bags to make women smile while making a positive impact in the industry — hopefully that will take us far," she says.
