The Duchess of Sussex landed herself in hot water over one major decision during her and Harry’s trip to Australia, with one royal expert calling out her divisive business ventures
Meghan and Harry met with survivors of the Bondi attack while in Sydney(Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a splash on their recent whirlwind tour of Australia, where they attended a series of events in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in just a few days. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with survivors and first responders of the Bondi Beach shooting, appeared as guest speakers at two separate events, and met thousands of fans who flocked to catch a glimpse of the couple.
While the trip was largely labelled a success, Meghan ruffled feathers on the trip after posting photos of the outfits she wore on charitable engagements on an online shopping app.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent four days in Australia recently (Image: AP)
The Duchess has invested in the company OneOff, which describes itself as a “style-driven fashion discovery platform”. The site includes purchasing links to a host of celebrities’ clothes, and it is believed Meghan is receiving a share of sales.
While many of her outfits from throughout the four-day visit were posted to the app, one particular ensemble received a wave of criticism. A photo was shared to the app of Meghan visiting the site of the Bondi terror attacks, with links for fans to purchase what she wore to the Sydney beach.
In December last year, two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah event where 15 people were killed and another 40 were injured. Harry and Meghan travelled to Bondi to meet with survivors and emergency responders who were there during the horrific attack.
Harry and Meghan chat to Bondi beach terror attack survivor, Elon Zizer(Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
Many royal commentators were shocked at the decision for Meghan to advertise her outfit from such a morbid event, with former BBC royal commentator Jennie Bond saying while Meghan is free to commercialise her fashion choices, she may not have thought the decision through to promote her Bondi outfit.
Jennie told the Mirror : “I have to admit that it’s rather ‘in your face’ to use every public appearance to turn a profit. I think it might be prudent for her to choose the occasions when she puts up links to her clothes on the new app, and charity events or meeting terror attack victims at Bondi Beach are not the right place for it.
“But, there are lots of events she attends as a celebrity when I can’t see any harm in encouraging people to buy the clothes if they like them – and allowing her to collect a commission.”
Jennie Bond believes Meghan is free to sell her outfits, within reason (Image: JOEL CARRETT/EPA/Shutterstock)
The royal expert believes that since Meghan is not a working royal, and hasn’t been for over six years, she is within her rights to partner with brands and make money as she sees fit, as it seems she is leaning towards these partnerships that weren’t an option when she was a working member of the Firm.
“She’s a working woman now, and not a working royal,” Jennie explained. “Obviously, she couldn’t have joined up with an app like this when she was on official duty for the royal family. And I think she found those sorts of restrictions very hard to deal with.
“She was, and is, an independent career woman who found it difficult to have her wings clipped. And I get that. But things are different now, and she is free to do as she pleases.”
Despite Meghan’s freedom to invest in whatever businesses she likes, Jennie believes she – as well as her fans – would benefit from distancing herself from her royal title when it comes to her brand in order to truly free herself from the limitations of the Royal Family.
Jennie said: “It might, however, be better if she stopped exploiting the title and just used her own name. That would make her new status, and the freedom that comes with it, absolutely clear.”
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