Meghan Markle was criticised by a royal expert over her new “bonkers” video on Instagram talking about the Los Angeles wildfires.
The Duchess of Sussex has been dominating headlines this week after she posted a new video on her Instagram on Tuesday to talk about a special gift donated by singer Billie Eilish for a family whose home was burned by the LA fires.
Prince Harry’s wife appeared emotional as she explained how she got in touch with a mother and daughter whose home was “left in ashes” by the blazes that destroyed more than 12,000 homes.
She said that among the 15-year-old’s possessions burned in the fire was a Billie Eilish T-shirt that had been left in the washing machine and that she promised her that she would somehow get her a replacement.
Moments later, the duchess, who last month visited LA to help with volunteering, gleefully opened a package to reveal the singer had signed a box full of merchandise for the teenager.
Now Michael Deacon, columnist and assistant editor at The Telegraph, condemned the duchess’s decision to post the video, saying that even though she may mean well, she “sounds ridiculous”.
He wrote: “Very cruelly, a lot of people accuse Meghan Markle of being fake, artificial, insincere. I, however, think those people are wrong. I think she means every word she says.
“But that’s the problem. She’s so madly earnest, she has no idea how ridiculous she sounds.”
He went on to describe the video as “bonkers” saying that a t-shirt will not mean much to someone who has lost their home to the fires.
He said: “I’ve got no doubt that Meghan means well. But it just doesn’t seem to occur to her how bonkers her video is.
“A T-shirt, for a girl who’s just lost her home? What’s she meant to do? Stick a couple of poles in it, and use it as a tent? And what’s she going to play the album on?”
“Obviously it’s still a nice gesture. I’m sure this teenage girl is indeed a fan of Billie Eilish.”
He further pinpointed an “odd” detail in Meghan’s decision, saying that she could have given the gift to the teenager privately instead of making a huge fuss about it.
He said: “Though, there’s something a tiny bit odd about a multimillionaire duchess making such a big song and dance about managing to procure a few bits of pop merchandise – and then hastily making a video for Instagram about it, to ensure that the entire world gets to hear about her selfless generosity.
“Meghan could have just sorted out the T-shirt, then posted it to the girl, without alerting everyone else on the planet to this momentous act of philanthropy. Yet, for whatever reason, she simply couldn’t resist letting us all know what she’d done.”