Interiors guru is sued after ‘ditching’ client for Meghan
HARRY and Meghan’s interior designer is being sued by a tycoon amid claims she walked off a job to work on the £2.4million renovation of the royals’ cottage.
Vicky Charles was reportedly commissioned by property mogul Andrea Olshan to work on three homes in New York State.
But Ms Olshan has alleged the designer was too busy on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Frogmore Cottage to finish the project.
Court papers lodged in the US say Ms Olshan claimed she hired Ms Charles to work on two homes in the upmarket coastal town of East Hampton, New York, and her own apartment in Manhattan.
But the interiors guru “walked off the job” and “chalked it up to her business overseas”.
Ms Charles allegedly refused to repay the £195,000 she had received towards the £407,000 contract.
The lawsuit states: “Ms Charles, by all appearances, began to separate herself from the project, upon information and belief, to work for more A-list clients such as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
Apologetic
Ms Charles is the former head of interior design at the Soho House hotel and members’ club chain, where Meghan’s friend Markus Anderson is a director. The furnishings stylist has also previously worked for George and Amal Clooney.
According to the legal papers, Ms Olshan – chief executive of Olshan Properties – hired Ms Charles to decorate a new 12,000sq ft property in East Hampton. She wanted it “move-in ready”, down to the cutlery and table settings.
Ms Charles was also supposed to “reinvigorate” Ms Olsen’s Manhattan home and another East Hampton property, it was said.
It has been alleged the in-demand cushion picker farmed the work out to rookies fresh out of design school – and that after a year she had not even delivered a colour scheme.
Ms Olshan claims that Ms Charles was “entirely apologetic” but was too busy with Prince Harry and Meghan.
The revamp of Frogmore – the couple’s official residence in Windsor – reportedly included security cameras and an eco boiler.
A spokesman for Ms Charles would not comment, saying she cannot discuss client-related matters.
● Meghan has topped society mag Tatler’s list of social risers. It called her “a tungsten toughie to drag the royal family into the 21st century”.