Meghan Markle vs. Kate Middleton: best fashion choices - in pictures

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Kate Middleton has been named this year’s top royal style influencer, beating her sister-in-law, Meghan Markle.

The Duchess of Cambridge had the biggest impact on the country’s shopping habits, according to eBay's annual UK Retail Report.

“Her maternity style while pregnant with Prince Louis [ensured] she generated more online searches on eBay than any other royal over the past year,” says The Daily Telegraph.

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Searches for tailored maternity coats increased threefold in November 2017 and searches for Jenny Packham more than doubled after the Duchess wore the designer’s red smock dress (pictured below) to present her third child to the world, outside the Lindo Wing in April.

“While Meghan was clearly the focus of the fashion pages this year, Kate’s distinctive style has long been a hit with shoppers on eBay since her wedding in 2011,” said the site’s UK vice president, Rob Hattrell.

“We always see an uptick in searches around landmark royal events and 2018 was a bumper year for small businesses on eBay, with both the birth of Prince Louis and Meghan and Harry's wedding driving purchases across the nation.”

Princess Charlotte (pictured below with her mother), who inspired a 60% increase in searches for flower crowns after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding, was in third place.

Click on the gallery above for more images of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's best fashion choices.