Official London is outraged but outwardly remains calm.
The wife of Prince Harry, the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, refuses to settle down. Just as she manages to live quietly, another loud scandal erupts. This time, she managed to haunt the British monarchy with three short videos from Paris. The parallels with the death of Princess Diana only added fuel to the fire.
While her husband tries to reconcile with his father, King Charles III, and brother, Prince William, Meghan continues to shine and cause a stir. Moreover, not at private parties away from the public, but in the very heart of the French capital.
During Paris Fashion Week, she found herself at the center of attention: she stayed at the exclusive Plaza Athenee hotel, dined at the prestigious Sugaar restaurant, where just a bottle of Ribera del Duero from the 2001 vintage cost her 1000 euros.
At the fashion show, the Duchess sat in a place of honor, dressed head to toe in outfits from Balenciaga: a white silk button-up shirt, matching trousers, and an eye-catching white cloak. Most importantly, she was adorned with diamonds from her mother-in-law's jewelry collection, the late Princess Diana, whom she never knew. But this invisible connection to Lady Di seemed insufficient for her.
In many ways, Diana and Meghan are similar. Paparazzi became the main companions of both their lives. Scandals were an integral part of Diana's life. Now, Meghan has taken up the baton. During her trip to Paris, she recorded two short videos that she posted on social media. The first was a clip designed to whet the appetite of her fans. A mysterious teaser of a pair of luxurious black shoes clicking on the glossy floor to the tune of the French track Viens On Essaie and the words "Let's try."
Then a new video appeared, just a few seconds long, which had the effect of a bombshell. Meghan is sitting in the back seat of a car speeding along the Seine at night. The Alexander III bridge is visible, and then the car continues towards the Alma bridge. Essentially, it repeats Diana's last ride on the fateful night of August 31, 1997, when the black Mercedes she was in crashed at full speed into a support pillar of the tunnel by the Seine. "The People's Princess," as Diana was known at the time, was taken to the hospital but died a few hours later. The last shot: Markle raises her legs, shod in 850-euro shoes, onto the seat opposite her.
There is no doubt that Charles III was furious upon seeing this clip. After all, Diana divorced him in a scandal involving mutual infidelities. And she was in the "Mercedes" with her new lover, Egyptian Dodi Al-Fayed, who also perished in that crash.
"It's easy to understand why Meghan's route could, at the very least, raise eyebrows, especially considering that Markle, who was 16 at the time of Diana's death, surely knew all the details of what happened," the Daily Mail noted cautiously.
Social media quickly reacted to the clips. Thousands of comments appeared: from "Please tell me this isn't real? She didn't do this, did she?.." to "For most people who lost their mother-in-law, passing by the place where it happened would be a moment of quiet, respectful reflection."
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams called the Duchess's stunt "more than foolish" and "incredibly insensitive."
