‘Anti-poverty’ Meg’s £379,000 baby shower is just a bit rich
Royal’s crusades look hypocritical after partying with stars at a £57,000-a-night hotel
FAMED for sex tapes, plastic surgery, cheating scandals and shotgun weddings, between them Kim, Khloé, Kourtney, Kylie and Kendall have risen from reality stars to America’s royal family.
Their show, Keeping up with the Kardashians, which trails their Barbie-like lives, has seen the girls and their matriarch queen mother Kris Jenner labelled the most influential clan on the planet.
However, following the New York baby shower of Meghan Markle, it seems the Duchess of Sussex wants to overthrow the Kardashians, letting the world know just who the real regality on the block is.
For six days the mum-to-be was indulged in the Big Apple in America’s most expensive hotel suite, the bill for her baby shower reaching an eye-watering half a million dollars.
Together with her gal pals, including tennis superstar Serena Williams and George Clooney’s wife, Amal, no expense was spared.
The celebrations included a performance by Kanye West’s favourite harpist, a candy floss machine and £150 steaks all in the £57,000-per-night five bedroom, six bathroom Grand Penthouse suite at the Mark Hotel.
What had been billed as a “private, low key” affair appeared to take a leaf out of the Kardashians playbook when “sources close to the Duchess” tipped off the press as to the location.
Photographer pens were then set up outside the hotel to capture every choreographed turn for the cameras by the sunglass-wearing leading lady and her grinning supporting cast.
Following the celebrations, Meghan flew back to the UK on a Gulfstream G450 jet estimated to have cost $125,000 and paid for by Mrs Clooney.
The Duchess is also believed to have arrived in New York on a private plane, meaning her roundtrip travel cost an estimated quarter of a million dollars.
The trip reportedly having cost in British money £379,000, raised eyebrows in royal circles.
Acutely aware of many people’s feeling towards their taxpayerfunded lives, Kensington Palace was quick to say Meghan’s trip was “privately funded”.
The Duchess’s Manhattan excursion smacked of Marie Antoinette, the hugely privileged French queen who flaunted her wealth and who suggested starving peasants running out of bread should “eat cake”.
What got me, however, was the huge slice of hypocrisy the trip served up showing Meghan and her husband Prince Harry brazenly failing to practice what they preach.
Both are becoming known for their outspoken and commendable campaigns for social change, including being anti-poverty activists as well as advocates for fighting the dangers of global warming.
In October, the Duke of Sussex – watched by his wife – made an impassioned speech while in Australia in which he warned: “It is going to take every single one of us to stop the clock on the destruction of our planet.”
It seems “personal responsibility” towards climate change took flight when Meghan’s private jet planted a very big and personal carbon footprint on the planet as other commercial airlines crossed the Atlantic.
Her anti-poverty message was also up in the clouds when you consider just what a difference the $500,000 spent on her baby shower could have done for those most in need.
Many Brits feel the royals should not exist because they’re a waste of taxpayers’ money. (I don’t agree.)
Many Americans wish the Kardashians would go away because they make the States look materialistic. (I do agree).
Meghan is allowing her showbiz image to draw attention to a system that many would like to change, as she blurs the lines between celebrity and royalty. Keeping Up with the Windsors here we come.
Meghan’s private jet planted a very big and personal carbon footprint on the planet as other commercial airlines flew across the Atlantic...