When Netflix unveiled its trailer for the holiday edition of “With Love, Meghan,” the streaming service likely anticipated that viewers would be eager for the Duchess of Sussex’s insights into crafting California-inspired Christmas decorations or her unique culinary touch, like adding dried flowers to a turkey. However, what truly captured attention was a fleeting glimpse of a green dress worn by Meghan in the trailer.

It seems the American executives might not have predicted that this particular fashion choice would become the talk of the town. Sharp-eyed viewers quickly recognized the one-shoulder gown as the £1,300 dress Meghan had donned for a magazine photoshoot three years prior. During that photoshoot, she was featured in Variety magazine under the headline “The Meghan Moment.”

The reappearance of the Galvan ‘Ushuaia’ dress sparked rumors, with some speculating that the Duchess may have taken the gown home from the shoot without permission—a claim firmly denied by her representatives.

“The suggestion 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,” a spokesperson for Meghan stated to the Daily Mail.

‘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,’ a spokesman for Meghan told the Daily Mail.

‘Any items kept were done so in total transparency and in accordance with contractual arrangements.’

A source claimed it was usual for famous figures to retain items from photoshoots, in part to prevent potential re-sale or unauthorised auction. The source pointed out that clothing worn by members of the Royal Family and others had been targeted for re-sale in the past.

A stylist who has worked with the Royal Family told Tom Sykes’s The Royalist Substack: ‘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 defence [Princess] Catherine always has: everything is paid for.’

Meghan was not allowed to accept any clothing free of charge when she was still a working royal. That was – and is – standard practice. Protocol does, however, allow working royals to receive clothes on loan provided they are later returned.

Vanity Fair journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis claimed on Andrew Gold’s Heretics podcast last year that Meghan took ‘a lot of stuff’ after stepping down as working royal, having ‘worn it in a very high-profile photoshoot’.

She said: ‘What’s shocking about hearing these kinds of alleged stories is that somebody who is living in a $15million-plus mansion in Montecito, who’s just had $100million deals, would care enough to take home some jewellery and clothes she can clearly afford [from a photoshoot].’

The claims will sting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were famously described by Spotify executive Bill Simmons as a ‘pair of f***ing grifters’ after their $20million multi-year deal to make podcasts with the audio streaming giant came to an end in 2023. The couple had made just 12 episodes.

Respected biographer Tom Bower has described the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a pair of ‘scroungers’ who are ‘constantly looking for freebies’.

Vanity Fair journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis claimed on Andrew Gold’s Heretics podcast last year that Meghan took ‘a lot of stuff’ after stepping down as a working royal

Meghan wearing the £1,300 dress for her magazine photoshoot three years ago

Variety’s cover featuring the Duchess of Sussex, with the headline: ‘The Meghan Moment’

The author, who has written deeply researched books about Meghan and Harry – his other subjects have included F1 mogul Bernie Ecclestone and the Beckhams – repeated an ‘extraordinary’ story he’d heard about how the duke and duchess attempted to obtain a free holiday at a beachside mansion.

‘They are scroungers, the Sussexes,’ claimed Bower. ‘I heard this particular story, which is that Harry and Meghan were invited to [a] sun-kissed place by the beach. They were staying for a couple of days and arrived in the host’s private jet, as usual…

‘They heard that someone else who was there was quite an interesting person and, also, had a beautiful house by a beach and Meghan went up to her and said: “Let’s talk, let’s become friends”.’

Speaking on GB News, Bower continued: ‘The following day, after they were taken back home on the host’s private jet, Harry called this particular woman and said: “Is there a chance that we could borrow your house? Meghan wonders whether we could have it.”

‘The woman was a bit puzzled by this, but said in the end, “Okay”.

‘The following day Harry calls again and says, “Meghan also asks: can we get there in your private jet?” And that is exactly what the grift is all about, it’s about scrounging.

‘It’s about Harry and Meghan constantly looking for freebies, whether it’s jets, houses, meals, whatever, and that is in the end what drove Spotify, and also Netflix, mad.’

What’s indisputable is that the Sussexes’ super-rich friends do help to provide an extraordinary lifestyle for them.

Who could fail to be impressed by the grand New York City brownstone owned by ‘Cosmetic Queen’ Victoria Jackson, where Meghan recently conducted an interview with a journalist from Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

‘When I enter,’ the interviewer wrote, ‘the house manager announces, “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex”, even though we appear to be the only other two people in the house.’

The pomposity, I must admit, made me laugh out loud.

A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment on Bower’s claims.