Meghan Markle to carry out first official public engagement since giving birth to baby Archie

Duchess of Sussex to make appearance to launch charitable clothing collection

(Getty Images)

The Duchess of Sussex is to take part in her first official public engagement since the birth of her son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

Since the arrival of the newest member of the Sussex family on Monday 6 May, the duchess has been on maternity leave, although she has attended events including Wimbledon, the US Open and the London premiere of The Lion King.

More than four months after the birth of baby Archie, Meghan is due to carry out her first official engagement on Thursday 12 September to launch her charitable high street clothing collection.

The capsule collection, which is being launched in aid of women's charity Smart Works, was revealed in the September issue of British Vogue, which Meghan guest-edited.

The workwear range has been created in collaboration with Marks and Spencer, Jigsaw, John Lewis and Partners and fashion designer Misha Nonoo.

The duchess will showcase the collection later today at its launch.

The workwear range features items of clothing including a shirt, trousers, a blazer, a dress and a bag.

For every item of clothing bought from the sale of the collection, one item of clothing will be donated to Smart Works.

Smart Works, a charity which Meghan is a royal patron of, provides training and interview clothes to women who are unemployed and in search of a job.

The sale of the collection being promoted by the Duchess is expected to last around two weeks.

Smart Works has two offices in London, in addition to bases in Edinburgh, Manchester, Reading, Birmingham and Newcastle.

The organisation consists of 300 trained volunteers who have helped more than 11,000 women.

The charity aims on helping around 3,500 unemployed women this year.

In the September issue of British Vogue, the Duchess of Sussex expressed her admiration for Smart Works, explaining why she chose to partner with the charity.

"The reason I was drawn to Smart Works is that it re-frames the idea of charity as community, which, for me, is incredibly important: it's a network of women supporting and empowering other women in their professional pursuits," the duchess wrote.

The royal visited Smart Works privately on several occasions before being named a royal patron of the charity in January.

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