Meghan Markle appeared to offer an olive branch to her father-in-law as she wore a bracelet gifted to her by the King, in her first public appearance since the royal racism row was re-ignited with the release of ‘mouthpiece’ Omid Scobie’s book.
The Duchess of Sussex, 42, stepped out in Montecito on Monday wearing an array of casual luxury including Princess Diana’s Cartier bracelet and a Bentley & Skinner diamond tennis bracelet – a gift from the King and worth at least £4,900.
The piece, which was first worn on the eve of her royal wedding, was first created by royal warrant holders Bentley & Skinner, features ninety-two round brilliant-cut diamonds.
It may be a sign of peace between the warring Windsors after Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame named Charles and the Princess of Wales as the two royals who allegedly expressed concern about the colour of Prince Archie’s skin before her was born.
Harry and Meghan are said to be ‘desperate to get back into the royal fold’ and recently reached out to Charles for his 75th birthday.
The Duchess of Sussex is seen on Monday in Santa Barbara, near her Montecito home
The 42-year-old looked sporty in her New Balance sneakers, leggings and long-sleeved t-shirt
Meghan proved she was the queen of casual as she stepped out in Montecito in millions of pounds worth of accessories.
Alongside black leggings and a plain black top, the former actress wore a new pair of £78 New Balance trainers and a green baseball cap.
She paired this with a pair of Krewe sunglasses, which she’s worn before and cost £250.
She then clutched her iPhone 14 Pro in a £180 Bottega Veneta phone case.
As she strolled the beachfront Californian city, 5,000 miles away the royal row sparked by her former ally’s book rumbled on.
Scobie, who has been seen as the unofficial spokesman for the couple, is still struggling to deal with the fallout from his new book, Endgame.
An initial draft of the book, given to Dutch translators, named the two senior members of the royal family – King Charles and The Princess of Wales- who Markle said told of their ‘concerns’ about the colour of her son Archie’s skin, while she was pregnant.
Meghan first made her allegations about the conversation in her televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, in March 2021.
Harry and Meghan issued a statement saying it was not the late Queen or her husband Prince Philip, but have refused to name the members of the royal family who made the comments.
Scobie’s book marks the first time they have been named.
The Sussexes have declined to publicly defend their relatives, and the publisher of Scobie’s book has not provided any explanation for how the names ended up in print.
She held her phone in one hand as she strode towards her waiting SUV
The mother-of-two was wearing her favorite Krewe sunglasses in the bright Californian sun
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace are considering legal action.
Scobie claims he ‘never submitted a book that had those names in it’.
A source told The Times that United Talent Agency had earlier sent a draft version of the book to publisher Xander Uitgevers, which contained the names.
However, a final proof of the 400-page tome was later sent, but it’s understood the translator had been working from an earlier draft.
It comes after Mr Scobie’s new book Endgame has already dropped out of Amazon’s top 100 current bestsellers list despite a blitz of publicity in the first week of its release.
The title currently sits 139th in the UK bestseller book charts based on Amazon sales, which are updated hourly to reflect recent and historical sales of every item.
It’s not clear if she had been to the gym or was en route: her husband Prince Harry has been spotted at a Santa Barbara gym before
The former Suits actress appeared at a Los Angeles gala last month and said she had exciting new projects in the pipeline, and was looking forward to sharing more details when she could
Endgame has fallen more than 100 places in three days having been at 14th as recently as last Friday. On the day of its release last Tuesday it was ranked 77th.
The book is now in the table behind children’s titles such as the Beano annual, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Stick Man; biographies from Britney Spears, Matthew Perry and Chris Kamara; and cookbooks from Mary Berry, Rick Stein and Tom Kerridge.
In the same Amazon list in the US, Endgame was at 235th today – below The Very Hungry Caterpillar; the Jeopardy! 2024 calendar; and a Paw Patrol sound book.
Amazon says its lists are a ‘good indicator of how well a product is selling overall’ but ‘doesn’t always indicate how well an item is selling in relation to similar items’.
The book’s falling performance comes despite a huge amount of media coverage as well as TV interviews conducted by Mr Scobie for the BBC and ITV in the UK and ABC in the US.
Meghan optimised casual luxury as she walked through
Meghan Markle keeps a very low profile and appears very thin as she is seen today amid news of the latest royal racist allegations that has rocked the palace recently
The author has also given interviews to publications including The Times, Evening Standard, Independent, Tatler, People, Elle.com and Paris March.
Meanwhile the book was not on prominent display at London’s oldest bookshop, Hatchards on Piccadilly – with only one copy put aside on order, reported The Guardian.
The newspaper added that about 14 copies were stacked on a table near the entrance of the nearby Waterstones, but there was ‘limited interest there too’.
Mr Scobie has been widely described as Meghan Markle’s mouthpiece – but neither she nor Prince Harry has so far spoken up in defence of the royals over highly damaging accusations of racism.
The Dutch translation of the book has been pulled after it named Charles and Kate as the royals alleged to have asked what colour Prince Archie’s skin might be before he was born.
King Charles III is expected to consult Prince William this week to discuss their response to the storm after Buckingham Palace said it is ‘considering all options’ when it comes to a response.
Meghan kept it casual as she walked though Santa Barbara
The Sussexes have not commented publicly on the race row but a source close to Meghan said ‘it was not leaked to Mr Scobie by anyone in her camp’.
It also emerged yesterday that the Dutch edition of Endgame quoted a source close to the Sussexes who branded William ‘heartless’ – another inflammatory passage that is not in the UK version.
Referring to claims that the Prince of Wales secured a flight to Balmoral without Harry when the Queen was dying, the translation cited the source as saying: ‘It was heartless to deny him the chance to go to Scotland to say goodbye to his grandmother. This was not the time to be petty.’
A ‘family source’ also claims that William ‘purposely ignored’ Harry when the Queen died and ‘didn’t want to help’ him, according to the Dutch edition.
It said: ‘He was, and is, still angry because Harry revealed private issues… He thinks that is unforgivable.’
The Dutch version also refers to the King’s ‘cash for honours’ scandal last year, with a ‘source’ saying ‘people inside the institution are concerned that ‘more stories will follow’.’
None of these claims appeared in the English version, The Sun on Sunday reported.
It comes after Meghan admitted under oath that she authorised a senior aide to brief Scobie for his earlier book about the Sussexes, called Finding Freedom
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