Kate Middleton’s Surprising Link to Meghan Markle’s New Clothing Collection

Back in the day, long before Kate Middleton was the Duchess of Cambridge and Meghan Markle was the Duchess of Sussex and they were both married to princes, they had jobs. You know — real, ordinary jobs, the kinds of positions mere mortals have. And, as it turns out, Kate Middleton has a cool connection to Meghan Markle’s capsule collection, which launched yesterday. Middleton was an accessories buyer for the fashion brand Jigsaw back in 2006, and Jigsaw launched a pair of trousers and a jacket as part of Markle’s Smart Set collection.

What’s more, Middleton’s flair for networking — and down-to-earth nature — was part of how she landed the position at Jigsaw in the first place. According to Belle Robinson, a founder of the brand, Middleton asked directly if she could have a job after the pair had collaborated on some charity work. “She rang me up one day and said: ‘Could I come and talk to you about work?'” Robinson told the Evening Standard in 2008. “She genuinely wanted a job but she needed an element of flexibility to continue the relationship with a very high-profile man and a life that she can’t dictate,” Robinson said. “She’s going to be dictated to when she’s needed and not needed.”

The whole thing has come full circle, as Jigsaw collaborates with Markle for her capsule collection. For every item sold, one item will be donated to Smart Works — an organization that helps women who are entering or trying to enter the workforce by supplying resources such as clothing for the workplace and interview-skills training. “When you buy any item in the Smart Set Capsule Collection for Smart Works, the same item will be given to a Smart Works client, and with it, the confidence and support she needs to enter the workforce and take an important step in building a career,” Markle explained in a statement.