British fashion designer Stella McCartney has faced a fierce backlash from Instagram users after posting about Meghan Markle's choice of outerwear on Remembrance Sunday, Page Six has reported.
Following the Duchess' appearance at the Remembrance Day services at the Cenotaph in Westminster, London, on Sunday, the 48-year-old designer used an image of Meghan at the event in order to express her delight at having the actress-turned-royal wearing her latest Autumnal wear. McCartney captioned the post to her 6.2 million followers:
"So honoured to have HRH Duchess of Sussex in our Autumn ’19 coat at Remembrance Day service. x Stella."
In the video below, the Royal Family gathered to honor veterans for Remembrance Sunday:However, many found the post, along with the image of the 38-year-old royal, deeply disrespectful, given the fact Meghan was making a public appearance to honor fallen veterans.
In the image, the Duchess of Sussex wears a black, wide-brim Stephen Jones wool hat with a black lace dress, Dents cashmere-lined 'Helene', black leather gloves ($109), and a black belted double-breasted coat by McCartney ($2,325 / £1,545).
Given the context of the occasion, this probably wasn't the best time for McCartney to try and plug her new coat.
Amongst a peppering of compliments for Markle's look, many commenters on the post felt it was inappropriate for McCartney to highlight her range on a day intended for civilians to pay their respects to those who have given their lives to protect their country.
One comment read: "Remembrance day is to honour those that fought for us not to use for advertising purposes. Pretty shocked."
While another person typed: "Using remembrance day to advertise your clothes is a little disrespectful!! People died and you take pictures of people showing respect for advertising purposes. Just wrong."
Of course, this was far from the first time Markle has worn McCartney's designs, with perhaps the most high profile occasion being her own wedding reception with Prince Harry. Speaking to Elle UK, McCartney gushed with pride about having the opportunity to dress the new royal:
"I was honoured and I still am. I think Meghan chose me for reasons other than just a beautiful dress—plenty of people can do that. She is not a difficult client to make look beautiful."
McCartney added that being a "women's woman played a part".
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