Camilla Tominey
Prince Harry and Meghan’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 of Sussex 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 Australia 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 44-year-old mother-of-two on a visit to 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 $1250 dress is available for pre-order. There are also links to the 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.
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 London Telegraph understands that the commercialisation of Meghan’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 said: “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 up to $3199 for VIP access to Meghan.
Also featured on her OneOff page is the khaki suede St Agni bomber jacket ($1000) and skirt ($890) she wore on a visit to the Australian National Veterans Art Museum in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Meghan once complained about having to wear tights as a working royal. While promoting the second series of her Netflix show With Love, Meghan, she said: “It was different several years ago, when I couldn’t be as vocal and I had to wear nude pantyhose all the time.
“Let’s be honest, that was not very myself. I hadn’t seen pantyhose since movies in the ’80s! That felt a little bit inauthentic.”
There is even a link to her Cartier Tank Française 18-carat gold watch. Diana, Princess of Wales, had the same watch, and it has never been officially confirmed whether the watch Meghan wears belonged to her late mother-in-law.
When the couple stepped down as working royals in 2020, they released a statement titled Spring Transition 2020 on their now-defunct Sussex Royal website, which read: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will become privately funded members of the Royal family with permission to earn their own income and the ability to pursue their own private charitable interests.”
The original statement was not agreed upon, with the late Queen Elizabeth leading negotiations over what the Sussexes’ future would look like in a meeting that has become known as the Sandringham Summit.
Buckingham Palace made it clear that a “half-in, half-out” model was not acceptable, confirming that the couple would step back from all active royal duties, including official military appointments.
They were banned from using the name Sussex Royal for their activities, over fears their money-making plans would look as though they were endorsed by the royal family.
Since then, the couple has made commercial deals with Spotify, Netflix and others, and Meghan has launched her own business, As Ever.
Palace aides have welcomed the Sussexes’ commercial success, believing they are better placed earning a living than having to rely on royal scandals to make headlines as they did in the era of their Oprah Winfrey interview and Harry’s autobiography, Spare.
Since then, the royal family has enjoyed being able to concentrate on their official duties while the public interest drifts from the so-called “Sussex soap opera”.
But the visit to Australia, where King Charles is head of state, is more complicated, with crowds turning out to see the couple because of their former royal status.
The tour has also prompted confusion over whether it is a commercial or charitable endeavour.
It has once again led to criticism of The Firm – as the royal family is sometimes called – with Meghan complaining about having been trolled and Harry complaining about not wanting to be royal.
References have also been made in news coverage to previous visits by Princess Diana, who was careful never to cash in on her royal status, despite being a global fashion icon.
The Telegraph, London
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