Meghan Markle's new partnership with an AI-powered shopping platform in the United States has raised fresh questions in London about what happens if Prince Harry wins hisongoing legal battle over taxpayer-funded security in the UK.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, has signed a commercial deal with OneOff, an artificial intelligence-driven shopping service that allows users to buy versions of clothes worn by celebrities.
Under the arrangement, Meghan will reportedly earn a share of the profits from outfits sold through the platform, including garments she wore during arecent and much-debated tour of Australia with Prince Harry. That unofficial trip, packed with charity engagements and walkabouts, looked to many observers very much like a royal tour in all but name.
A post shared by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (@meghan)
It is the overlap between that quasi-royal activity and her new AI-linked income stream that has given some royal commentators pause.
Prince Harry is still fighting to restore automatic, publicly funded securityfor himself and his family when they are in Britain, after losing that entitlement when he and Meghan stepped back as working royals in 2020. He challenged a Home Office decision in the High Court and, after an adverse ruling, the case is under further review.
Royal journalist Stacy Schaverien argued that Meghan Markle's OneOff tie-up complicates that fight. 'If Harry wins back the right to taxpayer-funded security for him and his family, how will that play out when he and Meghan visit the UK?' she asked, pointing to the risk that official-looking trips could double as money-making opportunities.
Schaverien went further, suggesting critics 'would rightly question' whether the British public should be paying for close protection officers if Meghan uses UK visits, even those centred on charities, to drive sales of her wardrobe through AI-powered shopping tools.
The concern is not simply about optics. It cuts to the uneasy line Harry and Meghan have tried to walk since quitting as senior royals: half in the public sphere, half in the commercial one, and always under scrutiny.
The Meghan Markle partnership with OneOff is, on paper, straightforward. The platform uses artificial intelligence to identify, catalogue and recommend clothing based on images and online content.
Source: International Business Times UK
