JAN MOIR visits the Californian dwelling of the Duchess…

After her three years of suffering and penury living in England, you cannot say that the Duchess of Sussex has not fully embraced her splashdown and re-entry into America. In particular, Meghan has embraced the luxe lifestyle and casual opulence enjoyed in her home state of California like a woman who knows she is never letting go again. Ever.

From her base in upscale Montecito, the Meghan of today blends right in with the elites. She is now a part of the Californian tribe of one-percenters who expect the best of everything — from the provenance of their organic vegetables to the excellence of their handbags, to buying only the best mosaic tiles for their swimming pools.

In this world, the thread count is high, the cashmere is minimum four ply, the avocados are hand-raised and even the diamonds are ethically grown. It is consumerism with a conscience, shopping with scruples and it comes with a cold-pressed, freshly juiced list of desirable designers and luxury emporia – not all of which are available to the public.

Meghan was born here, she was raised here and boy, does she know how to shop here. Having a husband who has just been given a birthday bonus of £9 million by his dear departed great granny, the late Queen Mother, helps of course, but knowing where to go and what to buy is an It Girl gift more precious than mindfully harvested rubies.

So come with us to Montecito and beyond, and let us peruse Meghan’s top shops and Cali must-haves together…

GODMOTHERS

It must be useful when a new bookshop opens and local authors such as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex come along to lend their support. The Royals-in-exile certainly sprinkled some stardust on the opening night of this new business last week.

Prince Harry inadvertently helped name the shop when he was publicising his embittered memoir Spare in 2023 and thanked Oprah, Victoria Jackson and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh for their support, calling them his trio of ‘fairy godmothers’. When literary agent Jackson and cosmetics mogul Walsh decided to sell books in the oceanside enclave of Summerland, three miles from Montecito, Oprah remembered the tribute and said there was only one name for the shop.

Meghan, author of the children’s book The Bench, about a relationship between a father and his son, gave a talk on opening night about how she sought refuge from being a working Royal five years ago in a New York bookshop during a trip to watch her friend Serena Williams play in the US Open.

Harry’s and Meghan’s books are on display in the ‘Local Authors’ section alongside others by Rob Lowe, Cameron Diaz and Oprah.

‘We believe in our bones that authentic storytelling is the magic medicine we need to connect and heal our world. We are fiercely passionate and committed to bringing diverse people together to share stories, ideas, wisdom, treasures, and tools for transformation,’ says the bookshop’s blurb.

Godmothers is housed in a white-painted barn that has been beautifully renovated. A fireplace and armchairs, covered in sheepskins, provide seating for bookworms and there is a stage for visiting authors to promote their books.

Photographs of prominent women like Eleanor Roosevelt and Maya Angelou line the stairs leading up to a room which members of the Founders Circle programme can reserve. Other VIP benefits include the services of a ‘holiday book concierge’. Membership is £155 a month for individuals and £266 a month for families.

LOGAN HOLLOWELL

‘We do things a little bit differently here.’ So says the blurb for this LA jewellery studio favoured by the Duchess of Sussex, perhaps not least because they also claim to make bling for ‘modern goddesses’.

Miss Hollowell – who modestly describes herself as ‘a writer, a metaphysicist, alchemist and visionary’ – uses recycled gold, ethically sourced gemstones and conflict-free diamonds in her designs. And while you might think a necklace is just a necklace, it’s so much more than that here.

Hollowell’s designs ‘encompass ancient wisdom, magic and inspiration from the universe, always visualizing [sic] the spiritual impact and healing effect that a piece will have on its wearer. Every piece is made with intention, love and magic so that it can… ultimately change your energy and life in a positive way’.

Phew. It’s a philosophy that Meghan has clearly taken on board as she has several pieces from this store. At a bookshop opening earlier this month, she wore Hollowell’s Fortuna tennis necklace in 18k yellow gold, handset with lab-grown diamonds (£23,000).

Of course, the necklace comes with a message. ‘Wear this unique design as a reminder of your ability to transform your life into whatever you choose to make it,’ it says on the box.

Meghan has also worn Hollowell’s £3,300 ‘Queen’ emerald necklace and a £1,360 silver necklace featuring her children’s astrological signs – Taurus for Archie (born in May 2018) and Gemini for Lilibet (June 2021). Available online at loganhollowell.com or from Hollowell’s ‘Goddess Den’ in Santa Monica.

EREWHON

The holy grail of health food stores. Meghan has been shopping in Erewhon since high school and gushed about its biodynamic wines, house-made kombucha and collard green wraps on her now defunct Tig website.

Walk into one of these health-minded utopias dotted around LA and it’s obvious why so many people admire this specialty grocery and others find it ridiculous.

Fruit and vegetables look as though they have been individually polished and cleaned before being arranged like artworks, there’s a mesmerising choice of nutritious food items such as kelp noodles, chickpea pasta and avocado oil and the take-away food is something only found in healthy eating obsessed California.

How about a gluten-free and raw cinnamon bun (£7.20), a serving of granola that looks like bird seed (£11) or organic Yangzhou Miracle Fried Rice (£21)? There are helpings of Medicinal Bone Broth for Radiant Energy (£11) or dishes of Organic Vegan Brown Rice Balls (£10) and Raw Penang Curry Kelp Noodles (£13) to take away.

This can all be washed down with a bottle of ‘hand-purified and hyper-oxygenated’ water for £20, though, to be fair, cheaper alternatives are also available.

At the Organic Tonic Bar, the uber-rich customers who want to show their love for the planet but still keep their private jets, queue up from morning to night for dozens of different smoothies or custom juices.

There’s the infamous Raw Animal Smoothie (£14) that contains a nourishing blend of raw kefir milk, beef organs, blueberries, honey, bananas, sea salt and maple syrup.

There’s a drink named after Justin Bieber’s wife — Hailey Bieber’s Strawberry Glaze — whose ingredients include almond milk, coconut cream, dates, Erewhon sea moss, hyaluronic acid, strawberries and avocado (£14) or the Royal Defense [sic] (£10) a mix of organic apple juice, bee pollen, camu camu (the fruit of a rainforest tree that grows by the Amazon), banana, strawberry and blueberry.

Tonics include a Reishi Cappuccino (£9) consisting of almond milk, gynostemma (a sweet tea used in traditional Chinese medicine), reishi mushroom, he shou wu (a flowering plant), cacao, coconut oil, cinnamon, chocolate stevia and xylitol (a natural sugar alcohol) and a Probiotic Soda (£11) that contains chlorophyll, quinton minerals (a mix of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium), coconut kefir, ginger, lemon and ice.

Erewhon – the name is an anagram of nowhere — has been called ‘the unofficial hangout for the young, beautiful and bored’ by the New York Times. It has ten stores in the LA area but no outpost yet in Montecito, some 90 miles away.

The nearest Erewhon to Harry and Meghan is in Calabasas, home for most of the Kardashian clan, but the company does have online shopping that can be delivered and also offers a membership scheme for £150 per year, said to be ‘tailored to the full Erewhon shopper’.

JENNI KAYNE

A branch of the women’s clothing and lifestyle store Jenni Kayne is located near Meghan and Harry’s home in Montecito, and it is certainly understandable why the Duchess of Sussex might drop in here.

Kayne is famous for her ‘Pacific Natural’ style, an organic and earthy aesthetic that embodies ‘conscious living’ and also being ‘joyful and mindful’ when wearing one of her oatmeal cashmere jumpers (£437). Kayne-approved pursuits for autumn include serving ‘apple harvest dinners’ and let’s not forget those ‘herb-drying activities’.

Her breezy store is filled with racks of gorgeous silk, cotton and cashmere dresses, plus skirts, jackets and blouses in the tasteful, neutral colours that Meghan has always favoured – despite once complaining that she couldn’t wear bright colours during her time as a senior working royal. There’s also a bleached driftwood-inspired range of home furniture and accessories to please even the pickiest princess.

Designed for the laid-back California lifestyle, the sofas, linens and tableware are inspired by ‘thoughtful simplicity and natural landscapes’ according to Kayne. She started her eponymous lifestyle business in 2002 at the age of 19 and now has 16 retail stores, with more planned in future.

No doubt having Richard Kayne, an American billionaire private equity investor, as her father has helped the fashion brand founder grow her business. Jenni says she gets valuable business advice from Daddy.

Walk around Montecito and you will see many, many women wearing her designs: it’s almost a Kayne cult. Bestsellers include the cashmere half-zip cardigan at £345 thrown over the cotton Peninsula dress £322. Other favourite items among Jenni Kayne followers are the oiled leather Canyon boots at £414 and shearling mule house slippers, a snip at £323.

In housewares, a set of Dusk Linen sheets and pillowcases costs around £1,050.

POPPY MARCHÉ

Situated down in the Montecito Country Mart — a cluster of exclusive stores with cream wood frontages — Poppy Marche is a luxe baby and childrenswear boutique with everything a doting mother could want in pint-sized fashion. Meghan has been seen popping in here for cute outfits for Archie and Lilibet, favouring their children’s ‘resort wear’.

Dressy and/or casual options with charming details are the key for the best-dressed Montecito kids. The delightful La Coqueta Penelope dress (£118) would be perfect for Lilibet while Archie would suit a Patagonia sweater vest (£83) for bicycle trips with Harry.

It is one of three stores owned by Jenny Belushi, wife of the actor Jim Belushi, and her friend and business partner Heather Whitney Rosenfield. The expertly curated selection covers everyday essentials and playful partywear and includes items from La Coqueta, the brand created by mother-of-five Celia Munoz whose flagship store is in London’s Notting Hill.

They even stock tiny Hunter wellington boots, Superga sneakers and self-improving books for tots.

HEIDI MERRICK

The fashion designer, who was raised in Santa Barbara, not far from Meghan and Harry’s mansion, is known for the laid-back glamour that represents California’s easy way of life. Cindy Crawford, Emily Blunt, Drew Barrymore and Kristen Bell are some of her other celebrity customers.

Meghan wore her silk and hemp ‘Ginger’ dress (£650) when she joined Prince Harry at a glitzy charity polo match in Miami earlier this year.

Merrick’s oversized square and black framed ‘Santa Barbara’ sunglasses (£163) are one of Meghan’s favourite accessories. She wore them on the couple’s trip to Nigeria earlier this year, at several of Harry’s polo matches and also at the G9 Ventures business summit in the Hamptons, New York.

Merrick’s delightful store in the classic California beach town of Summerland is so precious it is only open to the public on Saturdays. For the rest of the week, it’s private shopping, by appointment only.

In addition to the covetable sunglasses there are the designer’s signature swimsuits and rashguards (snug-fitting swim shirts) made with surfing in mind (£72-£250) and dresses such as the Corsica (£528) and the blush silk Windsor (£1,055).

WENDY FOSTER

Meghan regularly pops into Wendy Foster’s various shops selling fashion and home goods, perfectly curated for the Montecito lifestyle.

She has been in business for more than 50 years. Her luxury women’s clothing boutique in Montecito’s Upper Village is part of a business empire started with her husband Pierre Lafond (who died in 2022, aged 92) and includes two vineyards, a bistro, a gourmet market and a home accessories store.

Born into a wealthy family, Foster’s mother initially raised her in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, but the family moved to Montecito when she was six. At that time, Foster has said in interviews, locals wore a casual dress code of jeans, T-shirts and flip flops and her socialite mother, accustomed to wearing evening gowns, was shocked.

Foster is credited with smartening up the sartorial landscape and bringing designer fashion to the area. Some of the favourites in her store include the Avant Toi collection of luxury Italian knitwear, specialising in hand-painted and tie-dyed collections.

Among the new collection is a wool-knit sweater (£345), a laminated-cashmere jacket (£1,560) and men’s linen T-shirts (£290).

PILATES PLATINUM

Meghan’s best friend Heather Dorak opened her first Pilates studio in Hollywood in 2006 to create a workout she describes as ‘a journey for the mind, body and core’.

She now has multiple studios, where a single session on a Reformer machine costs £27, a monthly subscription is £185 and private training is £90 a session.

‘It’s hands down the best thing you can do for your body,’ Meghan, who is famous for her lean physique, said in a previous interview about Pilates.

The Duchess of Sussex used to attend her friend’s classes, but Dorak is a frequent visitor to Montecito and it’s a fair bet that the duo now work out together.

HUDSON GRACE

Meghan has been spotted pottering around this charming store at the Montecito Country Mart that specialises in last-minute entertaining essentials.

You know the kind of thing, a vintage silver-plated punch bowl (£2,043), an asparagus ceramic serving dish at a bargain (£30) or Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton’s new range of black and white dinnerware, with salad plates starting at £15 each.

Meghan may have been interested in Hudson Grace’s extensive scented candle range. She famously requested Diptyque diffusers to lessen the musty smell at St George’s Chapel for her and Harry’s 2018 wedding and the French company’s Figuier candles have been spotted in photographs of their home office.

Hudson Grace’s offerings include its own-brand Sweet Basil kitchen candle (£24 or there’s a stock up-and-save option of five for £109) and a range of Cire Trudon candles, a candlemaker that has been providing candles to France’s cathedrals and nobility since 1643.

Prices start at £95 up to £500 for Cire Trudon’s Great Ernesto candle that ‘captures the essence of a Havana hotel during the [Cuban] Revolution and features notes of bergamot, grapefruit and amber’.

The San Francisco-based company’s refined approach to home decorating also gets the stamp of approval from another Montecito resident. Gwyneth Paltrow features it on her Goop website.