Before leaving hearts shattered by her mournful passing, Princess Diana made a special request in her letter of wishes. The late Princess wanted her exquisite jewelry collection to pass on to her sons’ future wives. This led to Meghan Markle owning a variety of jewelry pieces from Princess Diana, which she has consistently flaunted with pride. From butterfly earrings to her cocktail ring, the Duchess of Sussex has tastefully incorporated her mother-in-law’s jewelry into her style. However, this time, it invited some backlash.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are currently dealing with a lot of scrutiny over their website launch, particularly for using their royal titles. Amidst the intense backlash, Markle wearing an expensive accessory of Princess Diana just made things even worse.

Meghan Markle accused of exploiting the royal family 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the royal family to allegedly seek financial freedom. However, their continual revelations about the royals and the recent launch of Sussex.com seemed “exploitative in the extreme” by royal experts such as Hugo Vickers. Amidst such intense criticism, Markle’s decision to wear a $17,800 jewelry piece while promoting the relaunch of her podcast Archetypes added to the perception that they are attempting to assert their royal status, according to a statement from Royal author Phil Dampier to The Sun.

The Sussexes’ previous platform, Archewell, now redirects to Sussex.com with a picture of the couple. It also features the inscription “The Office of Prince Harry & Meghan, The Duke & Duchess of Sussex,” alongside a royal coat of arms. While it is quite evident that Markle still wants to retain certain aspects of the royal family’s essence, this is not the first time she has courted controversy with Princess Diana’s jewelry.

Last year, the Duchess found herself in hot water over an expensive piece of Princess Diana’s jewelry that was allegedly missing.

Markle’s missing ring

Throughout last year, the Duchess of Sussex made numerous public appearances, during which the media observed her without her engagement ring. As there were no reports on the Duchess’ missing ring, the royal palace turned upside down. A source disclosed to New Idea Magazine that the ring’s absence raised alarm bells at the palace and the Duke of Cambridge pulled off a detective to find answers about his mother’s valuable jewelry piece. This missing ring also raised some questions about the Sussexes’ separation.

Later, however, a source explained the truth to Page Six. Apparently, Markle was not wearing her engagement ring because some of its settings came loose. As per the insider, the ring was “being fixed“, and the missing ring had nothing to do with her marriage to Prince Harry. While that issue was straightened out last year, this new controversy, and where it will lead, is yet to be seen.

What do you think about Meghan Markle wearing Prince Diana’s watch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!