Meghan and Kate’s fashion feud: Tensions ‘grew when Duchess of Sussex found herself behind Princess of Wales in queue for latest outfits from top designer Erdem Moralioglu’
- Meghan Markle was pictured in Erdem Moralioglu’s looks before meeting Harry
- She is said to have been upset Kate Middleton got first access to the designer
- It comes amid new claims about keeping public gifts against royal protocol
Meghan and Kate’s relationship was doomed from the start, as resentments were clear early on over the then-Duchess of Cambridge’s wardrobe being prioritised over the Duchess of Sussex’s, it has been reported today.
During her career as an American actress, Meghan Markle fell in love with clothes from British designer Erdem Moralıoğlu, having worn his dresses to several engagements before entering royal life from 2016.
But upon becoming publicly involved with Prince Harry, the Princess of Wales is said to have been given priority over Meghan as she, too, was an existing customer.
The new details of the pair’s relationship, published in The Telegraph – the same paper that published an exclusive interview with Prince Harry just last night – come after Prince Harry released his highly controversial memoir Spare last Tuesday.
It was not until 2019 that Meghan Markle wore an Erdem look on an official engagement, when she wore this custom green coat dress
Meghan arrives at Westminster Abbey for Monday’s Commonwealth Day service, wearing a chain print Victoria Beckham dress and Erdem coat
The Duchess of Cambridge was pictured in a stylish Erdem dress in October 2016
Meghan wore Erdem’s ‘Davina’ dress from his 2015 collection in early 2016 – before it was available to the general public – for an appearance on NBC’s Today Programme, before she had even met the Duke of Sussex.
She was also seen in Erdem dresses in March 2017 during a wedding in Jamaica, and around the time of the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, when she wore his ‘Sebla’ dress.
But as a royal, Meghan did not publicly wear her favourite designer until March 2019, The Telegraph reports.
The fact that looks by the British designer, who was born in Canada, were being handed to Kate first is said to have gone down badly with the Sussexes, with Meghan allegedly saying Kate ‘wasn’t even Queen’.
The dresses saga comes after a previous alleged row between the pair over bridesmaid dresses for Harry and Meghan’s wedding, and a reportedly-awkward first meeting with the Cambridges.
The Duchess of Sussex wore the outfit in London while she was pregnant with Archie, accompanied by Prince Harry
Erdem Moralioglu is a favoured designer of both the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex
Meghan Markle wore sheer black Erdem dress during a January 2016 appearance on NBC’s Today
Prince Harry claimed in Spare that one of the couple’s assistants was asked to resign over allegations they were ‘trading’ on their position to attain free gifts
Both Kate and Meghan were said to have left the meeting in tears after it was found that none of the dresses fit correctly.
In a separate row, it emerged in Prince Harry’s book Spare that Meghan kept freebies which she was given while a member of the royal family, supposedly sharing them with her staff at Kensington palace.
The usual practice within the Royal Family is to send back unsolicited gifts which have been sent to the palace for free.
Yet in his book, Harry admits that Meghan took free gifts, but also distributed them to her staff.
The prince wrote: Harry says: ‘She shared all the freebies she received, clothes and perfumes and make-up, with all the women in the office.’
But this is also said to have caused problems, as Prince Harry claims one assistant was ‘asked to resign by Palace HR after we showed them evidence she’d traded on her position with Meg to get freebies’.
His claims are disputed, as royal family members are not allowed to accept gifts unless for a major occasion, such as a marriage, or ‘official’ gifts from royal engagements.
There is also said to have been confusion over Meghan being given or ‘lent’ items of clothing and jewellery.
In one such incident, Meghan wore a pair of diamond earrings, given to her by Saudi prince Mohammed Bin Salman, supposedly as a wedding gift, to a state banquet in 2018.
The palace claimed at the time that the earrings were loaned to the Duchess by Chopard, but it was later discovered they were, in fact, a wedding gift.
Kate was pictured in an Erdem dress at the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2019
Meghan’s lawyers, Schillings, initially said: ‘At no stage did the Duchess tell staff that the earrings were ‘borrowed from a jeweller’, as this would have been untrue and therefore any suggestion that she encouraged them to lie to the media is baseless.’
Two days later, Schillings then added it was ‘possible’ Meghan said the earrings were borrowed as she referred to the fact that gifts given to the royal family are automatically the property of the monarch.
Much attention was drawn to the fact that the earrings were worn just days after the the Saudi regime admitted to killing journalist Jamal Khasoggi.
Lawyers for Harry and Meghan at the time denied the Duchess had ever said the earrings were a loan.
Things got off to a bad start between the two couples after Meghan Markle met Kate for the first time wearing ripped jeans and no shoes.
She later revealed in the couple’s Netflix documentary that she was shocked at the level of formality ‘behind closed doors’ after meeting the couple.
She had previously hugged Prince William upon meeting him, which is said to have ‘completely freaked [William] out’, according to Spare.
Prince Harry gave an exclusive interview to The Telegraph, published last night.
He has also called for the royal family to apologise to Meghan Markle after he made a series of explosive claims in his new book, claiming his family were treating him as if he were ‘delusional and paranoid’.
The prince said: ‘You know what you did, and I now know why you did it. And you’ve been caught out, so just come clean.’
It is not clear what Harry wants his family to apologise to his wife for but he claimed he was fighting the ‘good fight’ by siding with Meghan.
He claimed that ‘if people had listened’ to his concerns earlier, the gulf between he and Meghan and the rest of the royals would not have grown so wide.
The Duke of Sussex added that he could not understand why it seemed ‘shocking and outrageous’ for him to tell what he said was the ‘truthful’ side of the story.
Talking about his family, he said: ‘I wish you’d actually sit down with me, properly, and instead of saying I’m delusional and paranoid, actually sit down and have a proper conversation about this, because what I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.’
He also spoke about his belief that his family could benefit from unconscious bias training: ‘I think the same process that I went through regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them.
‘It’s not racism, but unconscious bias if not confronted, if not acknowledged, if not learned and grown from, that can then move into racism. And the way that I understand it is that we all want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.’
Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been contacted for comment.
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