The Duchess of Sussex says she is not signing a ‘megabucks’ deal with Dior to become the face of the famous fashion house.
Meghan and Harry had been linked to the French clothes company over the weekend.
It had been speculated any deal could be worth as much as £15million to the couple.
But last night sources close to the Royals said no contract had been inked.
And Dior itself signaled it had been surprised and confused when the idea of a deal was first mentioned.
Meghan in head to toe Dior at St Paul’s Cathedral last June
A resurfaced clip from a low-budget crime drama featuring the Duchess of Sussex, 41, shows the former actress working her angles in a photoshoot for a perfume ad (pictured)
A source told the Telegraph: ‘The Duchess of Sussex is not in talks to sign a deal with Dior.
‘There is no truth to the claims that she will partner with the French fashion house,’
A Dior insider said its team was ‘nonplussed as to how the story came about’.
The denial came after a resurfaced clip from a low-budget crime drama featuring the Duchess showed her working her angles in a photoshoot for a perfume ad.
While a deal to work with them is not currently happening, the couple appear to certainly be fans of the fashion house.
The Duke of Sussex‘s wore a Christian Dior suit for his father’s Coronation
Harry also sported $1,000 Dior ‘Bee’ shirts during recent appearances at the High Court in London – and also wore Dior to the UN last year.
Harry wears Dior for his father the King’s Coronation, which was then promoted by the fashion house on social media
Meghan wore Dior when she attended the National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee last June.
Dressed in all white, she wore a trench coat, skirt, and shirt from the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2022 collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri, a white hat from Dior by Stephen Jones, Dior gloves, and Dior D-Moi shoes.
She has also worn Dior to the Queen’s funeral, Archie’s baptism and other major events and royal tours before Megxit.
Meghan was dealt a blow by audio giant Spotify last week after it was announced that they would not be renewing her podcast Archetypes for a second season following a ‘mutual’ decision – a move that could see Meghan and Prince Harry lose $10million.
Meghan Markle wore a white Dior dress to her firstborn Archie Harrison’s christening
The Duke of Sussex leaves the High Court in a $1,000 Dior shirt earlier this year
But there are suggestions that Meghan could soon look to bring her wellness and lifestyle blog The Tig, in a bid to rival Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, which is reportedly worth £200million.
She recently renewed her trademark for the website that she began in 2014 but closed down in 2017 after getting engaged to Prince Harry.
Experts claimed recently that the actress-turned-royal and Prince Harry would not be receiving the full payout from their $20 million deal with Spotify for not meeting the productivity benchmark.
The deal was signed in 2020 but delivered only 13 hours of airtime in two and half years. It included 12 episodes and a one-off holiday special.
‘We knew the Spotify announcement was coming,’ a source told the Mail on Sunday.
Harry wore a navy suit and tie over a white dress shirt—all by Dior by Kim Jones at the UN in July 2022
Meghan Markle arrived to the 100th anniversary celebration of the Royal Air Force wearing a stunning black dress by Dior
Meghan, 40, clutched the hand of her friend and fellow activist Gloria Steinem as they left Crosby Hotel after having lunch in July last year. She wore Dior shorts
‘It might be a shock to everyone else, but we’ve been working on the rebranding of Meghan for weeks.
‘The offers have been pouring in, including from other podcast platforms.’
A spokesperson for Spotify said: ‘Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.’
But Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify Bill Simmons branded the pair ‘f***ing grifters’ (American for con artists).
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Dior at the Nelson Mandela Centenary Launch in 2018
Meghan Markle could become one the highest-paid influencers in the world receiving up to £200,000 per post
And Netflix are also said to be conducting an ‘ongoing review’ of its £80 million deal with the Sussexes.
Either way, the Duke and Duchess will need to find a stream of revenue to continue to fund their extravagant lifestyle.
Public records in the US show they bought their 16-bathroom Montecito mansion in 2020 for $14.65 million (£11.4 million) and have a $9.5 million (£7.4 million) mortgage on it. On top of that there are annual property taxes of $141,403 (£113,000).
Their security costs are also estimated to be at around £2 million a year, on top of the costs of staff, such as nannies, household help, gardeners and travel costs – including private jets.
