J Crew website crashes after Meghan Markle appearance at Invictus Games

The J Crew website has crashed after Meghan Markle was photographed wearing a white blazer from the retailer during an appearance at the Invictus Games.

Meghan is currently in Dusseldorf, Germany, attending the paralympic sporting event founded by her husband, Prince Harry.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were greeted with loud cheers by spectators at the Merkur Spiel-Arena on Wednesday (13 September), as they arrived for a wheelchair basketball match between Australia and Ukraine.

Meghan opted to wear a pair of Staud white linen shorts and a black tank top for the appearance, as she completed her look with the oversized J Crew blazer, dainty gold jewellery, and classic Chanel Mary Jane ballet flats.

Shortly after Meghan was photographed in the blazer, the J Crew website went down, as fans hailed Meghan’s sartorial influence in posts on X (formerly Twitter).

J Crew said it was working to have the site “up and running soon”, in a statement posted on the platform.

“Y’all were not ready for Princess Meghan obviously,” one person tweeted.

Another wrote: “Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex did that!”

“Princess Meghan power,” a third comment read.

At the time of writing this article, the J Crew website was still down.

Meghan arrived at the Invictus Games on Tuesday 12 September, joining Prince Harry who flew to Dusseldorf after a quick visit to the UK on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s death anniversary last week.

While in London, the duke attended an awards ceremony organised by children’s charity Well Child but did not meet any members of the royal family.

He then travelled to Germany as the Invictus Games got underway on 9 September.

In her first speech since reuniting with Harry at the championship, Meghan apologised for being “late to the party” due to getting the couple’s children, Archie and Lilibet settled at their home in Montecito, California.

Addressing a crowd of 1,600 competitors, friends, and family present at the “amazing event”, she said: “It’s so special to be here and I’m sorry I’m a little late for the party.

“I had to spend a little more time getting our little ones settled at home and get them to drop off.

“Three milkshakes and a school drop-off and I just landed a couple of hours ago, and I am thrilled that the first event I can do for Invictus is here with all of you,” she continued. “It’s amazing and I hear it has got off to a good start so far.”

Meghan picked a black pleated midi shirt dress from Banana Republic dress, Aquazzura Purist pumps and a secondhand Bottega Veneta belt for the occasion, according to a report by the Evening Standard.

The dress, which was retailing for half-price at around £65, reportedly sold out after Meghan’s appearance.

Harry founded the tournament after a visit to the US to watch Warrior Games, the government’s annual sporting event for injured or ill service personnel and veterans.

He said the experience helped him realise how sport can benefit service personnel in their recovery journeys and launched the Invictus Games as a paralympic-style sporting competition in 2014.