Last Thursday, News Nation’s Paula Froelich had an exclusive story about the green Galvan dress worn by the Duchess of Sussex in the With Love, Meghan trailer. Sussex-squad peeps had already identified the Galvan as the same dress worn by Meghan in her 2022 Variety cover shoot. Froelich regurgitated some slanderous smears from Tom Bower and then suggested that Meghan had stolen the Galvan dress from the Variety shoot. That accusation has been percolating throughout gossip media in the UK and America for days. On Monday, Page Six’s sources claimed that Meghan took the Galvan dress “without asking.” At no point did anyone stop and say “wait, these are some wildly slanderous accusations, and maybe there’s a more reasonable explanation?” Well, it took the better part of five days, but Meghan’s spokesperson finally pushed back:
Meghan Markle’s spokesperson is speaking out against reports that she took a dress from a 2022 photo shoot without permission. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, appears in promotional material for the holiday episode of her Netflix series With Love, Meghan wearing a one-shoulder green gown as she lights candles on a festive table. She previously wore the same $1,695 Galvan “Ushuaia” dress for a 2022 Variety photo shoot, prompting reports that she had kept the gown without approval.
A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex tells PEOPLE, “The insinuation that any items were taken without the full knowledge and agreement of the on-set stylists or their respective teams is not only categorically false, but also highly defamatory. Any items kept were done so in total transparency and in accordance with contractual arrangements.”
According to a source familiar with industry practices, it’s standard for talent to retain select items from photo shoots — sometimes for security reasons, including to prevent potential resale or unauthorized auction. Clothing worn by members of the royal family and other public figures has been targeted for resale in the past, making the practice both common and precautionary.
This statement is good, but I still think she should sue all of these f–kers. Just a short time after the spokesperson’s statement came out, Tom Sykes tried to say that the “source” was lying about “industry practices.” It sounds like Sykes just called up a couple of British stylists to horse-laugh at anything Meghan’s spox says.
The Duchess of Sussex’s team have angrily denied a story that she stole clothes from a fashion shoot. However, they appear to have inadvertently confirmed in the process that Meghan does take fashion freebies—in contrast to the working royal family, who say they never accept them. Sources told The Royalist that not being allowed to keep free clothes has been cited as an irritation for Meghan when she was a working royal.
However, in a follow-up that raised eyebrows even further, a source close to Meghan justified her keeping the dress by saying she had done so to prevent it from being sold on in an “unauthorized auction” because she had once worn it. The source claimed it was “standard practice” for celebrities to “keep select items” to prevent this, describing the practice as both “commonplace and prudent.”
They even suggested this had been an “issue” for members of the royal family in the past—although in two decades of royal reporting The Royalist can count on zero fingers the number of stories I have written about royal clothing stained with regal sweat being illicitly resold online at bumper mark-ups.
I checked with multiple fashion sources—photographers, stylists, editors—and nobody had ever heard this excuse before.
One said, “She seems to be implying the stylists would steal and hawk the piece for a premium on eBay. Or is she implying the designer would?”
Another put it succinctly: “Insane.”
Another: “Absolutely hilair.”
A stylist who has worked with the royal family told me, “It’s pretty clear she just wanted the dress and kept it. I’m sure the designer agreed. How could they not? What’s interesting is that she doesn’t say she paid for it. From that I think we can assume she didn’t. That’s the defense Catherine always has; everything is paid for.”
Kate doesn’t pay for everything – there have been several stories about Kate accepting freebies funneled through her mother or sister, or being gifted pieces of jewelry (not on the scale of Camilla’s “gifted jewelry” but still). “Catherine always pays” except when she doesn’t, but it’s okay because she’s white. As for Sykes nitpicking the idea that something worn by Meghan would be auctioned off… that source is clearly making a reference to Diana, correct? Tons of Diana’s clothes ended up in Paul Burrell’s hands, then the cops raided his home and Diana’s clothes went into police evidence, where they were slowly picked off and sold at auctions or to private collectors. Anyway… they’re basically mad that Meghan is operating like most celebrities/actresses, in that she accepts gifted clothing and jewelry. Good news for people who have a problem with that: Kate does it too!
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
