Controversy breaks out over Meghan Markle freebie pic

It was supposed to signal the launch of the Fab Four, but a secret has emerged about this photo of Meghan and Kate which sheds a whole new light on history.

In 1996, the same year that girl group the Spice Girls landed their first number one with diet feminist hit Wannabe, a Los Angeles teenager went to London and posed in front of Buckingham Palace.

Two decades later, all roads would lead back to the royal family for both one of the Spices, namely Posh aka Victoria Beckham, and that grinning, happy girl; obviously Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

Now these women have found themselves united in coming under the unflattering microscope of biographer Tom Bower whose latest, House of Beckham, has revived claims concerning the duchess and whether she allegedly accepted designer goodies despite it being against palace rules.

At the centre of this latest situation is $11,000 worth of gear from Beckham’s eponymous label, which the Duchess of Sussex chose to wear for one of the most high-profile outings of her royal career.

Cast your mind back and pretend it’s Christmas Day 2018.

The Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex are seen on Christmas Day in Sandringham, Norfolk, with this photo hiding a secret about Meghan’s outfit. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)

In the year she had officially joined Crown Inc, this day’s public showing was shaping up to be a biggie for everyone involved.

The month before, the first report had surfaced alleging that all was not fine and dandy between the newbie duchess and her sister-in-law, Kate, now the Princess of Wales.

It was the first major crack having appeared in the PR masterpiece that was the supposed Fab Four.

So, that December 25, as the royal family made their way to church on the Sandringham estate, would be the first time that Megan and Kate had been seen together.

The world and their mother had their peepers peeped for any indication of a falling out and both women were going to be under the microscope like never before.

And what did Megan choose to wear for this very important outing meant to telegraph that the world should keep calm and carry on in their unabashed royal support?

A coat, dress, boots and handbag worth $11,400 (£6,000) that “Victoria [had] agreed to provide,” according to Bower.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend a Christmas Day church service in 2018. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

And it is that word, ‘provide’, that all of this rests on.

For years there have been repeated reports raising the question of whether the duchess accepted gifts from designer labels and high end brands.

In the same way that politicians can’t accept luxe holidays or crates of Grange or a stray BMW that might find itself in their driveaway, members of the House of Windsor who serve as official representatives of the crown aren’t supposed to either.

In 2021, in the wake of bullying claims made against the duchess, and which have always been strenuously denied by Meghan, The Sun reported that there had been “rows sparked when the former actress was told by aides that keeping clothes sent by fashion labels was against royal protocol”.

A source said at the time: “As an actress it was perfectly acceptable to take freebies sent by fashion chains and designer labels. But Meghan had to be told it was not the done thing when you are a member of the royal family.”

As an actress, sources say Meghan was known to be a fan of a freebie. Pictured on October 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Project Healthy Minds)

Valentine Low, formerly The Times’ longtime royal correspondent, concurred in his excellent 2022 book Courtiers that this very issue had caused “clashes” between the former Suits star and her personal assistant Melissa Touabti.

Just before that Christmas Day walk, Ms Touabti had parted ways with Kensington Palace after only six months in the job.

Palace sources told Low “the clashes between Meghan and Touabti centred on the free gifts that some companies would send to Meghan. Deliveries were constantly arriving at Kensington Palace.

“Touabti was apparently punctilious in following the household rule that members of the royal family cannot accept freebies from commercial organisations. Her approach did not go down well with Meghan.”

A source told Low that at that point in time, “clothes, jewellery, candles… it was absolutely non-stop”.

This characterisation of things is supported by former Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor Tina Brown in her Palace Papers.

Brown says that Meghan’s former blog The Tig had been “a dragnet for luxury freebies.”

The couple have been living in California. Pictured on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Emmanuel Osodi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The newest offering from Meghan Markle owned American Riviera Orchard as showcased on Instagram.

The actress, she writes, had “won a reputation amongst the marketers of luxury brands of being warmly interested in receiving bags of designer swag”.

Meghan’s elevation to official member of the royal family did not, allegedly, see a dramatic shift in approach.

Brown wrote: “A publicist…was cc’d in a message to a member of Meghan’s team soon after she became the Duchess of Sussex. ‘Make sure [the publicist] knows that she can still send me anything. She’s always been one of the good ones’.”

In fact, no lesser source than Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex has talked about the swag that came his wife’s way, writing in Spare: “She shared all the freebies she received, clothes and perfumes and makeup, with all the women in the office.”

While we are hardly talking Pentagon Papers-worthy stuff here, this is not exactly flattering.

Still, Bower has one more really devastating detail about Meghan’s $11,400 Victoria Beckham ensemble.

The real clanger? That despite the Duchess of Sussex, one of the most famous women in the world, donning duds ‘provided’ by Beckham, and also to then first lady Melania Trump, ”the financial benefit” for the fashion brand “was nil”.

With the duchess having unveiled her nascent lifestyle business American Riviera Orchard earlier this year, here’s hoping she can shift jams and napkinery and kitchen trinkets much more successfully than four figure frocks.