July 16, 2026

Meghan Markle Reportedly ‘Banned’ From Balenciaga as Secret Highgrove Escape Is Revealed

Meghan Markle Reportedly ‘Banned’ From Balenciaga as Secret Highgrove Escape Is Revealed

Meghan Markle reportedly finds herself frozen out by Balenciaga after last year’s controversial Paris appearance, with one insider declaring there was “no way” she would be invited back. We also learn how Harry and Meghan allegedly slipped into Highgrove hidden among traffic for a Chanel event, while a plastic surgeon revives speculation about Meghan’s appearance. Plus, Meghan prepares for MasterChef Australia, erupts over claims involving Archie and Lilibet, and faces a warning that the royal reunion depends on the Sussexes keeping quiet.

Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:11.240
A Calarogu Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue.

2
00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:13.919
I am your host, Mark Francis. We are learning more

3
00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:16.839
about how Prince Harry and Meghan Markel apparently managed to

4
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.280
arrive at Highgrove for their private meeting with King Charles

5
00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:22.480
without being spotted, and it seems they may have received

6
00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:26.359
some accidental assistance from Channel. According to a report cited

7
00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:29.719
by The News International, Higrove was hosting a Chanel event

8
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:33.119
honoring students who had completed an elite twenty four week

9
00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:37.000
embroidery course on the same day as the Sussex reunion.

10
00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.399
That meant there were already a significant number of vehicles

11
00:00:40.520 --> 00:00:43.719
entering and leaving the estate. When Insider explained, there was

12
00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.200
a large number of cars coming and going from Higrove

13
00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:48.759
for the Shanell event, which allowed the Sussexes car to

14
00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.560
blend in and help them to enter the estate without

15
00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:54.079
being spotted. Harry and Meghan are said to have arrived

16
00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:56.039
for their meeting with the King sometime between three point

17
00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:58.600
thirty and four in the afternoon, remaining at Highgrove for

18
00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:02.079
more than an hour. Apparently, people around Harry suspected something

19
00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:04.799
significant was about to happen even before reports of the

20
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.680
reunion emerged, when Observer recalled Harry arriving at the National

21
00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:11.959
Exhibition Center near Birmingham for his Invictus engagement with a

22
00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:15.959
noticeably upbeat demeanor. The observer said, Harry turned up at

23
00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:18.599
Invictus with a massive smile plastered all over his face.

24
00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:22.920
Everybody was looking absolutely delighted. It wasn't just acting Liam Maguire,

25
00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:25.840
his UK aid looked absolutely like the cat that had

26
00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.480
got the cream as well. Then rumors started to go

27
00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:32.120
round that they were going to Highgrove. Megan has reportedly

28
00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:34.400
found herself on the outside of one of fashion's biggest events,

29
00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.480
with a new report claiming last year's appearance at Balenciaga

30
00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.400
left such a poor impression that she was not invited back.

31
00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.959
According to Royal reporter Paul Frolic, the Duchess of Sussex

32
00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:49.200
was absent from Balenciaga's Fall twenty twenty six cochure show

33
00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.920
in Paris, despite her friendship with the fashion house's creative

34
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:56.920
director Pierre Paolo Piccioli. One source was blunt about the reason.

35
00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:00.719
Oh God, no, she was not invited. What happened last time.

36
00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.000
There's no way Pierre Paolo would have back after last year.

37
00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:08.000
He wanted to be about the clothes, not her. Meghan

38
00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:12.319
attended Piccioli's debut Balenciaga show last October, but the visit

39
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.560
generated headlines that had little to do with fashion. She

40
00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.560
was reported to arrive just before the show began, prompting

41
00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.639
claims that the late arrival irritated some guests, including former

42
00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.800
Vogue editor and a win tour She also faced criticism

43
00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:27.520
after video appeared to show her laughing as a model

44
00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:30.840
stumbled on the runway. Then after the show, Megan shared

45
00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:33.759
an Instagram photograph of herself and friends riding through Paris

46
00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.199
to the car with their feet up, drawing criticism because

47
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:38.639
the image was taken near the tunnel where Princess Diana died.

48
00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:43.280
The report also revisits comments made by Piccioli after the event,

49
00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:47.560
when he explained that Meghan had personally contacted him about attending.

50
00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:50.400
She reached out and she said she'd love to come

51
00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:53.120
to the show. There was no strategy or big orchestration,

52
00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:57.280
he told the cut Afterwards, Representatives for the Sussexes described

53
00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:01.479
Megan as one of Piccioli's collaborators, a description that reportedly

54
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:04.000
did not go down well with some people connected to

55
00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:08.000
the fashion house. One source told Frolic a collaborator, who

56
00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:10.879
does she think she is? Beyonce? Here is po Pollo's

57
00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:14.199
first show for Balenciaga, and she basically claims some sort

58
00:03:14.199 --> 00:03:17.759
of credit for it. It's unbelievable. The article also notes

59
00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:19.879
that Meghan was absent from a Chanell event held at

60
00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.280
Highgrove on the same day she privately met King Charles

61
00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:25.520
and Queen Camilla with Prince Harry, Archie and Lilibert. Frolic

62
00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.800
suggested the Chanel gathering may even have helped disguise the

63
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.439
Sussex's arrival at Highgrove by blending their vehicles into the

64
00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:35.400
traffic entering the estate. Fashion commentator SHAWNA. Kay argued Meghan's

65
00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:39.439
absence from both events spoke Volumes, saying, it's extraordinary if

66
00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:41.560
it always high end fashion houses, that would kill for

67
00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.120
any royal to wear anything that they produce, and Meghan

68
00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:46.639
is scurrying through the gate train to be anonymous while

69
00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:50.879
this huge Chanell event is on at Highgrove House. Radar

70
00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:54.560
Online is reviving long running speculation about Megan Markle's appearance

71
00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:57.599
featuring a celebrity plastic surgeon who believes the Duchess of

72
00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:01.159
Sussex may have undergone a handful of subtle cosmetic procedures

73
00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:05.960
over the years. Dr Anthony Yune reviewed photographs of Megan

74
00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:08.520
spanning from her teenage years, through her time on suits

75
00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.280
and into royal life, stressing that any changes he believes

76
00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:14.960
he sees are modest rather than dramatic. Looking at images

77
00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:16.879
of Meghan in her late teens and mid twenties, he

78
00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:20.240
describes that period of her natural appearance. Here she is

79
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.199
at age seventeen, and here she is at the age

80
00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:24.319
of twenty five. This is who I considered to be

81
00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.720
the natural young Megan Markle, before she may have had

82
00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.240
anything done, he said. Uton pointed to what he described

83
00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:32.800
as the shape of Megan's nose and lips at the time.

84
00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:34.759
When you take a look at her nose, she has

85
00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:36.800
a very characteristic nose. She has a bit of a

86
00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:38.959
round tip. She has a little bit of width. Also,

87
00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:41.160
take a pick at her lips. She has nice, full

88
00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.519
lips that anybody would die for. By the time Megan

89
00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.680
was starring in suits, Youne believes her appearance had changed slightly,

90
00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.879
he said, very conservative thinning of her nose and maybe

91
00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.879
even a little projection added to it. He also suggested

92
00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:56.480
her lips appeared very subtlely plumped. She is a gorgeous woman.

93
00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:59.319
These changes are very very subtle, and to somebody who's

94
00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:01.600
not a train die, it may not be so obvious.

95
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:05.319
Yun went on to address persistent speculation about botox, but

96
00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:07.879
said he was not convinced Meghan had been using it extensively.

97
00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.240
Referring to photographs taken before her twenty eighteen wedding to

98
00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.279
Prince Harry, he argued that visible movement in her forehead

99
00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:18.240
suggested otherwise. That's a classic case of no botox. He said.

100
00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.879
Botox paralyzes and weakens muscles, preventing them from contracting, and

101
00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:24.879
if you've got a lot of botox in your forehead,

102
00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.399
you can't do this. Megan will be back on TV

103
00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.240
screens later this month after Australian broadcast has confirmed the

104
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:34.079
air date for her guest appearance on Master Chef. Australium.

105
00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:37.199
Channel ten announced that The Duchess of Sussex's episode will

106
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.639
air on Sunday, July twenty six at seven pm, promoting

107
00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.759
it as one of the biggest moments of the current season.

108
00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.639
In a post announcing the broadcast, the network said Meghan

109
00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.240
Duchess of Sussex joins the hashtag Master Chef au Kitchen

110
00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.240
as a guest judge, bringing her love of food entertaining

111
00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.879
in seasonal produce to one of the competition's most memorable challenges.

112
00:05:57.720 --> 00:05:59.839
The episode was filmed in April during Megan and Prince

113
00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:02.480
had visit to Australia, the couple's first trip down Under

114
00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:05.839
together in several years. Preview footage shows the Dutchess taking

115
00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.240
her place alongside the other judges, dressed on a black

116
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.600
outfit as she samples dishes and offers her thoughts during

117
00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:15.000
the challenge. Interestingly, Meghan is not the first member of

118
00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:17.879
the Royal family to appear on Mastershef Australium. King Charles

119
00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.000
and Queen Camilla also featured on the program during a

120
00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:23.360
visit to Australia in twenty eighteen when Charles was still

121
00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.160
the Prince of Wales or Palace In Just a Moment,

122
00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.040
Meghan Michael is reportedly furious, as Royals always seem to be,

123
00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:37.560
over suggestions that she and Harry used their children as

124
00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:40.680
leverage during discussions surrounding last week's family reunion with King

125
00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:44.279
Charles and inside I told reality tea to her, this

126
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.279
is about as low as it gets. To have people

127
00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.439
tearing her down and making hurtful and untrue claims is

128
00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:51.519
bad enough, but dragging her children into it is just

129
00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.399
beyond the pale. What makes it a thousand times worse

130
00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.600
is that she's sure a lot of this ugly narrative

131
00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.879
is being sanctioned or even pushed by people behind the

132
00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.079
palace walls. She can't believe anyone would seriously suggest she

133
00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.120
and Harry are using Archie and Lilibet to blackmail the

134
00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:06.759
King to get what they want. As far as Meghan's concerned,

135
00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.399
that's twisted thinking and completely beneath her. The source added

136
00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.560
that Megan worries Archie and Lilibert will one day read

137
00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:14.879
the stories being written about them there. You're going to

138
00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.560
grow up and potentially read all this poison someday. So

139
00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:20.199
it boggles her mind that people could be so cruel

140
00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.879
inside it, said Royal biographer Andrew Lowney believes the success

141
00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:27.160
of the reunion with King Charles may depend on whether

142
00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:31.199
that silence holds. Speaking after news of the meeting emerged,

143
00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:34.759
Lowdie said it was an encouraging development. But warned. It

144
00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.720
all now depends on whether Harry's side begins to leak stories.

145
00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.360
The previous experience suggests the Sussexes can't resist leaking stories

146
00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:46.160
and trying to leverage this contact and there you have it.

147
00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.720
If you'd like to email us or addresses the Palace

148
00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.560
in triggert, gmail and dot com. If you're listening on Spotify,

149
00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:54.920
leave us a comment. If you're listening on Apple, that

150
00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:57.199
button up there that says listen uninterrupted and get the

151
00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:00.000
show commercial free for five bucks a month. We appreciate

152
00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:02.920
your support and Mark Francis mean thanks to John McDermot.

153
00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.360
This is Pallas intrigue in good terms