Meghan Markle kept $1,700 fashion-shoot dress for her ‘royal archive’: source

Wardrobe… miscommunication?

A source tells Page Six that Meghan Markle allegedly walked away from a 2022 Variety cover shoot with a $1,695 green gown because it was all part of “archiving” her clothes as a royal.

Others are crying fashion foul.

Markle had viewers doing double takes over the weekend when a trailer for her show, “With Love, Meghan Holiday Celebration,” showed her in a dress allegedly kept from a 2022 Variety cover shoot. 

A fashion source tells Page Six that Markle, “took the dress from the shoot without asking,” confirming rumblings that the pricey one-shoulder, emerald green Galvan “Ushuaia” gown had disappeared from the photo shoot.

A second source confirmed to Page Six that Markle ended up with the dress.

However, a third source told us that everyone’s getting their knickers in a twist over nada, claiming that Markle must take the clothes as a royal — and that the whole hubbub is likely “a misunderstanding.”

The source claims they’d heard buzz that, “As a royal, she was required to archive all her looks. It was known that when things were pulled that they may not be returned.” 

But this does not appear to be an actual royal protocol.

A different source pushed back on the regal tale by telling us no one was ever told of this rule. “It’s a fib!” insisted our source.

In October, Markle was spotted in a black-and-white, tweed strapless midi dress designed by Chanel during a date night with Prince Harry at private NYC club Chez Margaux.

She had previously worn the designer piece for a photoshoot in 2022 for The Cut.

When it comes to this supposed green gown-gate, a source tells us no one is spiraling — but calls such a move, “a weird thing to do without asking, since I doubt they would have said no.”

The fashion source explains, “It’s not uncommon if talent loves something from a shoot that they ask to keep it or purchase it. They would normally be offered a discount if its something the designer can’t part with or a sample that needs to be returned.” 

In 2024, journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis claimed on Andrew Gold’s “Heretics” podcast that the former royal took “a lot of stuff” after she “wore it in a very high-profile photo shoot.”

“What’s shocking about hearing these kinds of alleged stories is that somebody who is living in a $15 million plus mansion in Montecito, who’s just had $100 million deals, would care enough to take home some jewelry and clothes from a photoshoot that she can clearly afford,” Grigoriadis, a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine and Vanity Fair, said on the podcast.

We have reached out to reps for Markle. Reps for Variety and The Cut did not respond to request for comment.