The Meghan Markle sparkle effect: Why these women spent thousands of dollars on plastic surgery to look like the Duchess of Sussex
Two women have spent months transforming themselves through plastic surgery to look like Meghan Markle, the former American actress who is now the Duchess of Sussex.
“I think she’s a beautiful woman with beautiful features, and, as I’m changing the features that I have, yes, I want those features to more resemble Meghan,” Xochi Greer told ABC News’ “Nightline” months before her transformation was complete.
Greer, who lives in Houston, loves binge-watching the legal drama “Suits,” which starred Markle as corporate lawyer Rachel Zane. Like Markle’s character on the show, Greer, 36, is also a lawyer.
“See her pretty nose?” Greer said of Markle in an episode of “Suits.” “See how hers has that nice little turn, that nice little button and mine kind of is long and down? Mine’s like a sad nose, and hers is a happy nose.”
Inspired by Markle’s beauty and success, Greer got plastic surgery in the hopes that it will help turn around her life.
Greer, a single mother of three, has struggled with her self-esteem for two years.
“My body has changed since having another child. My self-esteem was just lower because of the way things went with the father of my child. So that’s why I’m hoping that this will give me something that I need to get back out there,” she said.
Greer said that she’s often told she resembles Markle.
“I take that as a huge amazing compliment because she’s a gorgeous woman. That has kind of helped inspire me and triggered how I knew what I wanted to do,” she said.
Though ultimately supportive, Greer's friends, who would watch "Suits" with her, had mixed emotions about Greer making a permanent change.
“When she told me she wanted to do this, I was like what are you going to do?” Greer’s friend Regina told “Nightline” with a laugh. “Everything’s already so perfect.”
But with the transformation, Greer hoped a new outer-confidence would boost her self-esteem.
“When it comes to men, I have a very hard time talking to men in a non-friendship manner,” Greer said. “The plastic surgery just helps to give me more self-confidence on my outward appearance while I’m fixing my inward appearance privately through therapy and things. So, it’s just now kind of finishing off the entire package and giving me — making me a new 'me.'”
“Nightline” was there the day before the surgery when Greer met with her plastic surgeon, Dr. Franklin Rose.
“We’re going to soften the nose. It’s a pretty nose, really. We’ll get it a little bit more like Meghan Markle,” Rose said while examining Greer. “We’re going to make two baby incisions so you get rid of all this baby fat.”
Rose said that in plastic surgery, Markle is “one of the new 'it' girls.”
When asked if his patients go through any psychological evaluation when they want to drastically change their look, he said, “I've examined maybe 30,000 patients over this surgical career of mine so you can tell very quickly, who is a stable patient or patients who have unrealistic expectations.”
Greer underwent three procedures: liposuction, fat grafting to her buttock and cheeks and rhinoplasty. The total cost of the procedures is $30,000, but Greer received a discount from the doctor for appearing on TV.
Before the surgery, Greer also underwent a round of fillers and Botox to match Markle’s smoother and plumper face and lips. After seven hours in surgery, Greer quickly started her recovery and wasted no time checking out her new nose.
“I can already see a couple of changes and I think it looks great,” Greer said. “I’m really, really excited to see these results once the swelling goes down.”
Just across Houston, Renata Williams, a 33-year-old real estate agent, was also eager to transform into Meghan.
“I have an infatuation a little bit with Meghan Markle. I want to look like her,” Williams told “Nightline.” “I want to have the body that I’ve always wanted. Ten years later, after kids and having three C-sections, you’re just not comfortable anymore.”
Williams said she would want Markle’s same jaw and cheekbones. She said she admires many aspects of Markle’s looks and personality, including “her style.”
“She's graceful. I mean, she's intelligent, the way she gives back to the community,” Williams said. “I know that I'm not going to look just like her. But at the same time, she has a lot of features that I admire. And I would like them on me.”
In her closet, Williams had some aspirational pieces of clothing that she wouldn’t wear before the surgery.
“Because most of my dresses that I wear have pockets in them,” she said. “I do that to hide the stomach, but I can’t wait to get into this to see what it looks like flat.”
With her second husband, Anthony, the couple have a combined six children — three each. True to the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Williams’ 12-year-old daughter Raylin said she loves her mother just the way she is.
“I think in my mind, I wish I could look like her, all the time. Especially at school, when people say, ‘Your mom is really pretty,’” Raylin told “Nightline.” “But if she wants to change, it is fine. I totally agree with her.”
“I think my wife is beautiful now. If she wants to look like Meghan Markle, that’s probably — I’d say, it would be a linear move, maybe, because they’re both pretty!” Anthony said of his wife.
Rose was also Williams’ surgeon.
“Sometimes there’s a misconception in plastic surgery that you can take, for example, [someone’s face] and make it into somebody else’s face, which you cannot,” Rose said when asked whether Williams would look like Markle after her procedures. “So what we’re just going to try to do is just kind of refine things a little bit, to make her look more like Meghan Markle.”
Williams had five procedures done: liposuction, fat grafting to her buttocks, breast lift with implant, a tummy tuck and rhinoplasty. The total cost for the procedures is $42,000, minus a discount from the doctor for appearing on TV.
Williams and Greer debuted their transformations at a British high tea-themed reveal party arranged by their doctor.
“My daughter, when I got home and the first time I got dressed up, she said, 'Mom, you look just like her.' And in the back of my head I was like, 'No, I don't but okay!' I'm so happy! The ones who thought I was crazy are the ones who's like, ‘Congratulations!’” Williams said.
She added, “[I’m] just happy. … It’s being proud of myself, being proud of who I am, being confident in who I am. It’s a number of things. I didn't realize how down I was until I realized how happy I am and excited, and I get out of bed happy.”
“I’m very, very happy with the results,” Greer said of her post-surgery look. “I didn't go into this with an unrealistic expectation [that] people were going to go, ‘Oh my gosh, is that Meghan Markle?’ There are certain features that resemble Meghan now. But I look in the mirror and I still see me, just a better version of me.”
Greer said she feels more confident now.
“It's not necessarily helped my dating life right now, but it has helped me confidence-wise to feel like I'm ready to go out,” Greer said.
Greer continued, “I used to get ready and look in the mirror and be like, 'Why even bother? Like you're just not doing anything with yourself. You don't look good.’ I was very hard on myself. And now I get up and I look in the mirror and I'm wanting to fix my hair again. And I'm wanting to put makeup on again and wanting to look nice when I go out and present myself to the world.”
“I still may just put my hair in a ponytail and very little makeup and a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, and I still feel like I have more confidence. I feel like I still look good even, even in basic. I'm still looking good,” said Greer.
