The palace feels that Duchess Meghan’s OneOff account has ‘crossed a line’

The Telegraph dusted off Camilla Tominey to give us a royal exclusive about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Australian tour. More specifically, Tominey got an exclusive about how Meghan’s wardrobe has “caused considerable concern” in the palace. They’re absolutely furious that Meghan wore nice clothes instead of sackcloth and rags! They’re mad that she wore dark hosiery after she once rolled her eyes over the nude pantyhose “royal protocol.” And most of all, they’re mad that Meghan invested in OneOff with her own money, and that she’s getting commissions from her OneOff account, even from clothes she wore for charitable events! THE SCANDAL OF IT ALL! You know this is a major kerfuffle in the palace when Camilla Tominey stops ranting about Labour long enough to huff about Meghan’s clothes.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tour of Australia has raised alarm in royal circles after it emerged that Meghan is earning money from a shopping platform built around the outfits she wears on charitable engagements.

The Duchess has invested in OneOff, a “style-driven fashion discovery platform”, which includes purchasing links to a host of celebrities’ clothes. She is understood to be receiving a share of sales.

Meghan’s OneOff page includes seven outfits she has worn since the couple arrived in the Commonwealth country on Tuesday for what has been described as a “quasi-royal tour”.

One of the “looks” featured is the black Karen Gee “Priscilla Dress” worn by the mother of two, 44, to visit the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne on Tuesday. Visitors who click on the link can press a “buy now” button straight to the website where the AUS$1,250 (£662) dress is available for pre-order. There are also links to the US$780 (£575) Real Fine Studio Puffy Hearts earrings worn by Meghan, along with her Christian Dior iridescent black leather high heels, although they appear to have already sold out at $120 (£89) a pair. According to Vogue, the current revenue split on a sale is 10 to 25 per cent from the retailer to OneOff, which is split with the creator.

The Telegraph understands that the commercialisation of the Duchess’s wardrobe has “caused considerable concern” behind palace gates.

A royal source said: “Everybody just rolls their eyes now as they know the routine – push the envelope, get criticised, reverse tack and say you made a donation. By making money while doing ‘philanthropic’ work, they very much appear to be having their cake and eating it”.

Another insider added: “Grifting is one thing, but carrying out a faux royal visit to a children’s hospital while flogging your outfits online appears to have crossed a line.”

It follows increased discomfort over the monetisation of the tour, where tickets to a high-end “girls’ weekend” retreat in Sydney have been on sale for around £1,400 to £1,670 for VIP access to Meghan. On Thursday, Prince Harry appeared as a guest speaker at Melbourne’s InterEdge Summit – where delegate tickets were on sale for £525, platinum tickets for £1,250, and a virtual ticket offering on-demand access to the Duke’s speech at £260.

[From The Telegraph]

I would argue that the reason why the royal press can’t keep their stories straight about why they’re mad at Harry and Meghan is because Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace can’t keep THEIR stories straight about why they’re mad. The palaces are mad about paid appearances! They’re mad because Meghan is speaking at a ticketed wellness retreat, she’s like Fergie! They’re mad because of the charitable events! They’re mad because Meghan is making money off of what she wears! Sandringham Summit, you promised not to do any of that, even though we purposefully excluded you from the summit about your future! It begs the question… why does the palace even care this much? Why are courtiers contacting Camilla Tominey and getting her to write this sh-t? Why are they admitting that they’re watching Meghan’s every move?

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.