It’s a tale as old as time — a celebrity posts an Instagram photo, receives some well-meaning criticism about the post, and subsequently deletes the snap in question. That was exactly the case recently with Stella McCartney, who posted a photo of Meghan Markle from the UK’s Remembrance Day celebration, as Page Six noted.
On Sunday, the Duchess of Sussex attended the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Westminster with the rest of the royal family. Naturally, since this is Meghan Markle after all, she donned a fashion-forward get-up for the event, including a Stella McCartney coat. Shortly after her appearance, the official Stella McCartney fashion brand highlighted Markle on their Instagram account, writing, “So honoured to have HRH Duchess of Sussex in our Autumn ’19 coat at Remembrance Day service. x Stella.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Page Six reported that there were some users who complimented the duchess’ look, but many more thought that it was inappropriate for the brand to focus on Markle’s outfit given the seriousness of the holiday.
“Remembrance day is to honour those that fought for us not to use for advertising purposes. Pretty shocked,” one user reportedly commented.
Another wrote, “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.”
View this post on Instagram
The post was subsequently deleted. McCartney has yet to publicly comment on the matter, according to Page Six.
This isn’t the first time that Markle has worn a Stella McCartney design. According to Harper’s Bazaar, McCartney spoke out about the duchess wearing her fashions on multiple occasions.
“I was honoured and I still am,” she said. “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.”
For Remembrance Day 2019, Markle didn’t just step out in a Stella McCartney design, the duchess also acknowledged the brave servicemen and women on the official Sussex Royal Instagram account. Their Remembrance Day post even included a throwback to Markle’s pre-royal days. In 2014, the former actor went on a USO tour the Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff during which she met with troops in Spain, Turkey, Italy, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom.
At the time, Markle said, “I have always had such a profound respect for our nation’s troops and military families. I cannot thank them enough for everything they do for us.”
