The curious case of the Duchess of Sussex’s ‘borrowed’ Saudi earrings

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The bulk of the first Times of London’s article is about how the Duchess of Sussex is the real bully because she’s Black and American. White ladies were literally weeping in palace closets because Meghan asked them to do something. Actually, scratch that, we still don’t know why these people were crying. It is, as always, purposefully vague. This is not a situation where a victim has come out to tell her story of what exactly happened and how she reacted. Speaking of purposefully vague, interspersed in the first Times story was the very oddly worded smear that Meghan purposefully wore a pair of earrings gifted to her by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman just three weeks after MBS had Jamal Khashoggi murdered. The Times also suggests that Meghan lied about it? Here’s what the Times claimed:

The Times can also reveal that the duchess wore earrings to a formal dinner in Fiji in 2018 that were a wedding gift from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who is said by US intelligence agencies to have approved the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The dinner took place three weeks after the killing.

At the time it was reported that the earrings were borrowed. The duchess does not deny this was what she said, despite being aware of their provenance.

On the same tour sources said the main reason that the duchess cut short an engagement in Fiji was because of her reservations about the organisation UN Women. It is not clear why she is said to have felt so strongly about its presence. The duchess denies the sources’ claims about the event.

The tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga was a difficult one for staff, sources told The Times. When the duchess wore the earrings in Fiji given by the crown prince she told aides who were preparing to brief the media about her outfit for the state dinner that they had been “borrowed” from a jeweller, a source said, an explanation that was widely reported. This was three weeks after the murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul

Lawyers for the duchess said she may have stated they were borrowed but did not say they were borrowed from a jeweller and denied that she had misled anyone about their provenance.

[From The Times]

So, during her first overseas tour, at a moment when Meghan had not even been a member of the Royal Family for seven full months, there was some kind of miscommunication about the provenance of a pair of earrings. Someone, somewhere claims that Meghan knew the earrings came from MBS, but that she claimed that the earrings were “borrowed.” It’s also worth noting that it took weeks after Khashoggi’s murder to unravel the thread of who was responsible and that MBS ordered it. In the Sussexes’ denial story to People Magazine, they add a few more layers of intrigue:

The Times story also includes a claim that Meghan wore earrings during her 2018 visit to Fiji that had been a wedding gift from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who U.S. intelligence agencies have said approved the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. PEOPLE has learned that the earrings were gifted on March 7, 2018, from the Saudi Arabian royal family. Neither the Duke nor the Duchess of Sussex was present when they were given at Buckingham Palace, and as is protocol for any wedding gift of this nature, they remain property of The Crown.

As for a claim in The Times story that Meghan cut short an engagement in Fiji because of her reservations about the U.N. Women’s organization, the group is featured as a partner on the Sussexes’ Archewell Foundation initiatives for International Women’s Day, and Meghan gave a keynote address to the group on gender equality in 2015.

[From People]

First, the smear about the UN Women thing is just stupid, and I don’t know why the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are so lazy and half-assed with their smear campaign. Two, it absolutely makes more sense if the earrings were a gift from the Saudi royal family entirely, as opposed to a gift from MBS alone. Three, that is what Meghan was likely referring to in Fiji when she said the earrings were borrowed – the earrings belong to the Royal Collection. The Royal Family had a particularly nasty history specifically with Meghan and Royal Collection jewelry. Angela Kelly controls the Royal Collection jewelry, and from there, we got two huge smears – the “Meghan’s wedding tiara” fake scandal and the “Prince William doesn’t want Meghan to wear royal jewels anymore” story. So the Saudi earrings story sounds like Angela Kelly was setting up a long-running smear, when it was likely Angela Kelly who pre-selected the earrings for Meghan to “borrow.”

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138 Responses to “The curious case of the Duchess of Sussex’s ‘borrowed’ Saudi earrings”

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  1. OverThisCrap says:

    So I guess we can call this Earrings Gate

    • Ken says:

      So do the diamonds belong to The Queen?

      • MF1 says:

        Yep. The Crown (i.e. the queen) accepted the earrings from the Saudi Royal family when Meghan was not even present. Then the queen’s lackey, Angela Kelley, arranged for Meghan to ear them on this tour. Now they’re twisting this truth to smear Meghan.

      • Ronaldinho says:

        I am horrified the Queen of England would accept and keep jewellery from states know to treat women especially and their subjects generally dreadfully.
        Oh right – I see where I went wrong there

      • GRUEY says:

        One of the reasons they had to get out of there is that every single moment they were near those in reds, Meghan and Harry were giving the RF ammo against them just by being in proximity. This is why the RF has to reach back for dated bullshit. There’s no way they can “reveal” anything current and frankly there’s nothing bad to report about Meghan after or (as importantly) BEFORE she lived in England. They literally have nothing but those two years to twist and distort. And that horse is looking beaten to hamburger meat at this point.

      • Mrs.Krabapple says:

        Yes. The British royal family has, and will continue to, suck up to the Saudi royal family and kiss Saudi @ss, because the Saudis are literally hundreds of times wealthier than the Windsors, and exercise great control over their government. The USA does the same. I wish these two western countries would grow a spine and stop sucking up to people who commit human rights abuses.

      • Egla says:

        Apparently yes BUT the first article made it sound as HE personally gifted them to HER and she lied where they were from. Now we hear the jewelry is gifted to the Crown for a wedding and THEN the Crown distributes/allocates them to people. Probably she was told “Here these earrings were a gift and you can use them.” I am sure there is a whole protocol and rules for the use of the jewelry. Those people never even meet. It’s state protocol that regulates this thing. For those who don’t know if you are in a diplomatic setting everything you gift must be approved and bought by an official and when gifted is registered as an official gift. Check out the gifts the US president receives or the PM of UK, or anyone for that matter. They don’t own them. Can borrow them or have to buy them to own them. Any gift over a certain value must be declared or else….

        I think they should read more about this things. And for G sake let them speak first THEN they can talk shit. Right now it’s just ridiculous what they are inventing.

    • JayNay says:

      This from a family that has literally squatted on other people’s land and has built its entire wealth on exploiting others. How many of the queen’s jewels have been stolen from somewhere? They have some nerve.

      • My3cents says:

        If you want to go there RF I also suggest taking an inventory of all the artifact stolen and lotted by you all. You could probably close down the British Museum afterwards.

      • Victoria says:

        @JANAY I was just about to go awwwwf on that exact subject.

    • Where'sMyTiara says:

      This was debunked by Sussex Stans with receipts almost immediately.

      7 March 2018, Queen received the earrings from MBS. CHARLES AND WILLIAM WERE BOTH IN ATTENDANCE.

      Where were Harry and Meghan? In EFFING BIRMINGHAM. This is according to the press records. So the media are flat out lying about their own previous reporting.

      Also? Apparently under protocol, such gifts remain property of the Crown. So, if association with any such gift is so embarrassing, the the BRF should just return it, right? Along with all other Saudi jewels in the Royal Collection, of which there are a ton.

      UK royals have met the tyrannical monarchies in the Gulf 217 times since the Arab Spring, they bolster them and help sell them arms.
      Prince Charles has held 95 meetings with repressive Middle East monarchies since the ‘Arab Spring’ protests threatened their power. His visits tend to whitewash human rights abuses, often coinciding with repression of opposition activists. Charles has been there so many times they started calling him “Charles of Arabia”.

      https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-02-24-charles-of-arabia-how-britains-next-king-bolsters-autocratic-gulf-regimes/

      The Firm really, really doesn’t want to be going down this road, b/c we have receipts ALL DAY.

      • UptownGirl says:

        @ Where’sMyTiara, thank you for your post!! It truly places the perspective back into the hands of the hatred, vicious and underhanded BP, PET and the RR’s!

      • Kelli says:

        Well written. Thanks!

      • Nic919 says:

        The Queen knighted Idi Amin, so maybe they can stop pretending the earrings are a big deal.

      • UptownGirl says:

        @ Where’sMyTiara, thank you for your post!! It truly places the perspective back into the hands of the hatred, vicious and underhanded BP, PET and the RR’s!
        I just finished reading the article and I found it to be very offensive in regards to Charles and the use of his position to secure arms deals and to acquire horses, all at the suffering of thousands of Saudi Arabia’s killings, torture and imprisonments ongoing campaign to silence the truth tellers. The fact that Boris Johnson declared that BSM deserved their support was gut wrenching. I didn’t realize the extent to which the Saudi government has bombed Yemen to the point that they are destroying historical sites. This article further brings revolting reaction to the fact that flags were flown at half staff for the death of the Saudi king in Britain. The atrocities are astonishing and revolting.

  2. Elizabeth Regina says:

    This is the kind of smear campaign I expect from lazy stupid people. The earrings were given to the Queen. The keeper of jewels, machine gun Kelly knew the provenance of those earrings. This will call into question every piece of jewellery worn by the females of the RF from now on. The sheer stupidity of this leaking is astounding!

    • EllenOlenska says:

      Absolutely, can you see it now….“ the central diamond in the queens tiara worn this evening was acquired in 1791, pried from the cold dead fingers of the poor serving maid who had been charged with protecting it when her queen was shot by colonizing British troops”. Keep digging your own grave with both hands BRF.

    • Mac says:

      The Crown Jewels are littered with items of suspect provenance. Meghan isn’t the colonialist who looted the Kor-i-Noor.

      • E says:

        @MAC she didn’t loot the collection, but she’ll wear them? I didn’t steal this/accept this gift from a clearly problematic source, but I’ll certainly wear it! I’m unclear on how your comment excuses her. Using/profiting from stolen goods but hand-waving it away because you personally didn’t steal them is a strange argument to make.

    • Jais says:

      Well the papers would have to cover it. Kate will prob be praised about the glamour of her jewelry with nary a mention of provenance. Maybe I’m wrong and just being too cynical right now. Hope you’re right and this stupidity will catch up.

    • Jeanette says:

      Elizabeth that’s the truth. The stupidity of this dumb smear. Every. Piece. Of. Jewelry. From. Now. On. Will. Be. Scrutinized.

      Will and Kate are truly dumb. Wow. I guess this is the smart duo who got rid of the working pair they could have lazed behind and coasted to a popular monarchy. I used to really want to see England. Now I see it’s a country that doesn’t want me nor my cash and I’m okay with that. I can experience racism right here in Atlanta.

    • misery chick says:

      “machine gun Kelly” LOL, bwhahahahahahahah.

  3. EllenOlenska says:

    On a very superficial note this attempt at smearing reeks of people who thought they wielded power in their roles at the palace suddenly realizing “ we have lost the narrative” and desperately throwing anything they think might have the legs to stick. We have Angela Kelly the queens “ bestie” (at least in her own mind) who definitely leaked tiara gate and likely knew the exact provenance. And then we have the infamous “Poor Jason” king of “ keenness” whose inability to make Can’t and Willnot turn into rock star media personalities probably realizes his future job offers won’t be great…

  4. Cecilia says:

    So meghan spoke the truth. They were borrowed. From the royal collection. Also Crown Jewels and their dodgy ways of obtaining them is not a convo the royals want to start…..

    • MrsBump says:

      hmmm in that case, then every single piece of jewelry would simply be labelled as borrowed but we know that is not the case, most of the times, the provenance/history is mentioned in briefings.
      Personally i think that maybe she had nothing else to swap them with at the last minute, hence why the actual sourcing was kept vague.
      Whatever it is, its just an f-ing piece of jewelry, its not like she murdered khashoggi herself. I’d be more interested in hearing what the British gov is doing to severe its ties with MBS than this BS earrings story

      • Cecilia says:

        Personally i think meghan didn’t even know where they came from. She got presented some jewelry from the royal collection to pick from, as every bride does, she choose these earrings. She probably thought it was even nice that she was allowed to wear some of the queens jewelry. The point here is these are the queens and they were gifted to the queen. So why meghan is somehow linked to the murder of that journalist is beyond me.

      • MrsBump says:

        Since they were a wedding gift to her specifically, i doubt she didn’t know about it, even though it remains in the royal vault as an official wedding gift from a foreign head of state.
        The whole drama is nonsensical regardless.

      • mynameispearl says:

        Yeah I couldn’t give a sh1t about these earrings either, it seems like a diplomatic faux pas, maybe she was badly advised!

        Its bit rich of the papers to be banging on about this considering the recent revelations about the brits selling weapons that are ending up in Yemen. Plus we all know the Brits are well up with the Saudis, every elite is corrupt in this way!

    • Wasn’t this talked about during the actual tour by the RR? Something about how Charles had to step in and instruct her that she could not wear a tiara on tour as it was against some bizarre ‘only Meghan can’t” protocol rule? I’m pretty sure the article went on to mention she was allowed to wear a pair of earrings from the Royal Collection instead. The article played up how greedy, gauche, and ‘Hollywood’ Meghan was to want to wear a tiara while on tour.

      And this coming out from Angela Kelley most likely says this latest round of smears is not just from KP as I don’t think Kelley opens her mouth without the Queen’s personal approval.

      • Where'sMyTiara says:

        Meanwhile, Her Pettiness is at this very moment harboring on her property a fugitive, internationally-wanted for crimes related to child sex rings and human trafficking and child rape. But sure, Brit Media, let’s hear some more about some gotdamn earrings loaned out by racist colonialists, none of whom ever informed Meghan of the provenance thereof.

  5. Lexistential says:

    I just can’t anymore with the Palace trying to smear her. Seriously? And in what mind does smearing Meghan for wearing a Saudi gift once when the entire BRF socializes with them regularly? Linking her to Khashoggi’s death is not only reprehensible but also completely F-ing stupid given the BRF’s longtime (and entirely dirtier) ties to them.

    • S808 says:

      They’re in such a rush to pin something, ANYTHING on Meghan, they’re inviting conversations I don’t think they want to have.

      • Becks1 says:

        And adding the UN Women smear and the earrings to the story about the bullying just make it clear they’re throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.

      • Jais says:

        Yep S808 and Becks1… they’re throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this point. It’s bewildering and I hope people see through it.

      • Myra says:

        I forgot about the UN Women smear because it was so wild. Who is expected to believe that? Like, when you are lying to me, at least make an effort to make it believable.

      • Where'sMyTiara says:

        You are so right on this. The Palaces are opening a portal to their own doom here.
        Streisand Effect, anyone?

        The best way for the British Royal Family to have all their dirty linen, hate crimes, crimes against humanity, and financial crimes (of which there are piles), is to keep doing what they’re doing to the Sussexes right now.

        Media outlets in other nations are not beholden to House Petty Windsor, and unlike UK media some even publish the truth.

        We all pretty much hit consensus on here when the Oprah interview was announced, that The Firm and their lapdog lackeys were going to tell on themselves all over the damn place before Meghan’s first word even hit the airwaves.

        And here it all is. Messier than hippos in a watering hole.

        We’ve got four more days of Lilibet’s poo-flinging flying monkeys, and I’m already running out of popcorn.

    • Belli says:

      Also (someone please correct me if wrong, but this is what I could find)

      Jamal Khashoggi was murdered on October 2 2018.
      Meghan wore the earrings on October 23 in Fiji and on November 14 to Charles’s birthday party.
      The CIA said that the Saudi crown prince was responsible on November 16.

      Even assuming Meghan knew who the earrings were from, it’s expecting a lot of her to make the link before the actual CIA.

      • Betsy says:

        No, everyone who was paying attention to that story knew it was MBS from the word go (the CIA obviously gets all its proof in a row before they announce probably culpability; they knew from the beginning, too).

        That doesn’t mean I think Meghan bears any responsibility for knowing where the earrings came from; I agree that Angela Kelly was the one who offered them up knowing full well where they came from. I wonder what other jewelry Meghan was offered and how “sticky” and recent their pasts are.

      • Godwina says:

        Yeah, this is a smeary story towards M, and I’m not blaming her, but I had to walk by the Saudi embassy in Prague every day that year and immediately everyone felt squeamish about the Sauds over the murder, and I remember how that embassy I walked by took on such a sinister, “give it wide berth” aura (because the murder had happened at another embassy), like, the next day.

        **Immediately** there was a stain on that government, period. If she wore them, it’s because she likely didn’t know where they came from. No one with half a brain would have made that choice/blunder even the week of the murder.

      • Thanks for the receipts BELLI. Obviously — given that timeline — we must now assume Meghan is getting her info from the CIA before it is released to a wider audience. How else explain that date trail? Or….maybe the more obvious answer is this is BP trying to add fuel to William’s “burn Meghan at the stake” pile by trying to blame Meghan for Queen, Charles, and William accepting the gift into the Royal Collection and then loaning it out to her. 🤦🏻‍♀️

  6. Lady Luna says:

    I hope they British people will finally have enough of these grifters and get rid of them!

  7. Roserose says:

    I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Meghan was loaned earrings with the intention of smearing her about it later. Maybe I’m paranoid but… The timing of this smear is so suspect.

    I hope Meghan is ok, it’s got to be a tough day for her. I keep thinking about Diana going through the same thing but on her own.

    Aside: I love that blue dress, it’s amazing.

    • Kalana says:

      Yup, they set her up.

      I think Wimbledon was a setup as well.

      • MF1 says:

        What happened at Wimbledon?

      • Nic919 says:

        They tried to make a thing of her RPO telling people not to sit in a certain area. And made it look like she was refusing to talk to regular people, which was shown to be false in other photos.

    • Midnight @theOasis says:

      I’m hoping Meghan and Harry are doing okay as well. This is deja vu all over again while she’s pregnant. Thing is I think this will make more people interested in watching the Oprah interview and hear from the sources what they went through. Folks are gonna hang on and pay attention to every word spoken.

  8. Belli says:

    I’m all for the royal family suddenly growing some morals about the origins of their jewels, but Meghan’s earrings would be very low down on the list.

  9. S808 says:

    Do they really want to open a dialogue about unethical jewelry???? From the Saudis????? Or ANY of other pieces in their possession?????REALLY????

    • Jules says:

      Yea let’s just open those books, right? I would love to hear more about the royal family jewels and how they all got acquired.

  10. bitsycs says:

    These people are such sad, hateful, racist trash. It’s pathetic how desperate they are and how downright bad they are at trying to smear someone, but it’s also truly awful they’re treating another human being this way, let alone someone who is part of their toxic family.

  11. Midge says:

    So the Palace’s trump card is a pair of earrings that they tricked Meghan into wearing so they could later use them to smear her? Got it. They’re going to need better than that. I had thought the Oprah interview would be pretty innocuous, nothing new, and focus on their foundation and future projects. But this smear campaign makes me think much more will be said. Hope so!

  12. Andrew’s Nemesis says:

    The Queen goes carriage riding and horse racing with a prince who had his daughters kidnapped. She owns the earrings that Meghan borrowed for a tour carried out on her behalf. Any comment on that, PwT and Waity?

    • Golly Gee says:

      Yes. The queen has not said a peep against, and I’m assuming continues to be friends with Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum even after the British courts found him to be guilty of the forcible abduction of his two daughters.
      And will the queen now Renounce MbS and dispose of the blood earrings?

  13. Ken says:

    Seriously, I just can’t with this people. It’s always a source or someone speaking for an unnamed “victim”. Oprah put out a tease and we heard a bit of a conversation from Harry and a few words from Meghan and now the British Press and RF have lost it. Claims of bullying and wearing diamonds. It starting to sound like episode of the Real Housewives of London

  14. SarahCS says:

    Given that recently we’ve been having major headlines about your man from Dubai kidnapping and imprisoning his daughters when they tried to escape the country and how integral he is to British horse-racing and his relationship with QE2 (nice pics of them in her carriage together at the races) this seems like an especially stupid route to go down NOW.

    Never mind opening the door to looking at the provenance of other items in the royal collection…

    Amateur hour.

    • MsIam says:

      Calling them a “carnival of experts” is an insult to carnivals. And if the earrings were received months before the wedding, then the “keeper of the jewels” knew just as much about their history when she let Meghan borrow them. And at the time no one knew about MBS exact involvement, the US investigation report was just officially released this year.

  15. Becks1 says:

    The earrings are a semi-valid story; meaning, i think the british royal family SHOULD be more open about the provenance of their jewels and jewels that are from problematic governments, like the Saudis, should be returned, dismantled, I dont know, something.

    But they’re choosing THIS piece of jewelry for this conversation? Earrings that were loaned to Meghan*, earrings that were given directly to the Queen presumably, even if it was in honor of Harry and Meghan’s wedding, when the queen and camilla are waltzing around in jewels from god knows where? Camilla has some ENORMOUS jewelry from the saudi royal family.

    If the British want to have a conversation about the origin of the royal jewels, that’s well and good, but I would start with something other than this.

    *what I do think is weird is that it was not said that the earrings were loaned from the royal collection at the time. That would have been much easier. It makes me wonder if someone – Angela Kelly? – told Meghan not to tell anyone that because they didnt want people asking when the Queen received the earrings?

    Also I find it interesting that this is the second jewelry story with Meghan regarding jewelry of “unknown or questionable provenance.” At this point it just feels like a set up.

    • Myra says:

      Honestly, I would just like to thank William and his petty staff for opening the door on this issue. The ethical source of royal jewelries should be discussed. I expect the Queen to return the Kohinoor posthaste. They should also return all gifts given by Saudi royals and other questionable figures, or at least donate them to a museum.

      While we’re at it the UK should return all cultural artifacts stolen during colonisation, return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and stop killing Yemeni children by selling arms to Saudi government. oh and abolish the monarchy. Let’s get the ball rolling on this.

      • Lexistential says:

        I would seriously be livid if William were my grandson or son. And clearly, he is not kept in check by anyone and he wields far too much freedom to connect with the media on his own. If I were the Queen or Charles, I would want KP’s communications office dissolved and all the staff to work under Clarence House. (But hey, thanks to William, we’re having an entirely bigger conversation about Saudi ties, Khashoggi’s murder, and how entrenched the BRF is with their blood money.)

  16. Devs says:

    This is why my main concern whenever I comment here is that the monarchy is abolished. I cannot begin to comprehend the audacity of the heads of that depraved empire pretending to have ethics over jewels??. You mean the nation is on violence, murder, cruelty and theft on a global scale?? The same one that benefits from that evil and perpetuates it today?
    The monarchy needs to be abolished and at the very least other countries need to call into question the lack of transparency about the royals finances and their roles in global politics.
    No one should be a royal, I don’t care if it’s Harry or someone else.
    I only like Meghan and her husband because they had the sense to leave but that whole institution needs to go down.
    Coz this earrings smear is appalling, it’s laughing in the face of everyone Elizabeth’s family has pillaged from. They do not care where those jewels came from and will continue to work with Saudi Arabia, they just want to abuse a black woman and the British press will gladly help them do it.

  17. Lemons says:

    Does the BRF/The Crown still possess these earrings?

    If so, I don’t want to hear anything else about it. I can’t look at these earrings and see that Meghan is supporting the Saudi Arabian regime. I can look at a brooch and see a certain princess is a racist or a piece or art hanging in one’s home and see that a royal couple is also racist.

    If Meghan knew they were from the Saudi royal family, she should have made the astute decision to forego wearing the earrings. Admittedly, they are beautiful.

    This is a failure of the BRF not a single couple or person. And they are showing how incapable they are of making the right decisions at the right time instead of reacting and flailing.

    • Lexistential says:

      I have a feeling Angela Kelly’s nasty little hand is in this. She has access to the Royal Jewels (and not just the tiaras) and would have been the one to pre-select earrings for Meghan to choose from.

  18. Snuffles says:

    Uh, this is the royal family that rolled out the raid carpet for the murderous Saudi Prince earlier in that same year.

    https://twitter.com/meenalsworld/status/1366919196253294600?s=21

    That still court and and make shady arms deals with them.

    This has Machine Gun Kelly’s fingerprints all over them.

  19. Harper says:

    The Times has an updated story on the earrings, claiming “the staff in London responsible for registering details of all royal gifts recognised them later.”

    “Staff in London were concerned when they saw the earrings in the media. They alerted Kensington Palace, which decided not to take it up with the couple while they were on tour. A source said: “We made a decision not to confront Meghan and Harry on it, out of fear for what their reaction would be.”

    After the duchess wore them a second time, an aide decided to confront Harry, a source said. He is said to have looked “shocked” that people knew where the earrings came from. Lawyers for the duke and duchess deny he was questioned about their provenance, which they said was well known.”

    KP knew about the earrings’ provenance but couldn’t send an email to Harry or Meghan saying, “Don’t wear the earrings!”

    • Becks1 says:

      That story doesnt make much sense either. If staff in London was so concerned, why would Meghan have access to the earrings at all? And why would Harry be “shocked” that people knew where the earrings were from? Harry would know that gifts like that are cataloged and there is a record.

      Also, is this is about the royal family having qualms about wearing Saudi jewelry (which would be a first), or about Meghan wearing nice earrings? As someone said above, it wasnt until AFTER Meghan wore them the second time that the CIA linked MBS to the killing.

    • EllenOlenska says:

      Because they were “scared” of the response!

      Some possible responses might include
      1. WTF did Angela hand me these earrings to wear when the saudis are in the news right now?
      2. WTF are you emailing me at three A.M . ( couldn’t resist)
      3 So considering the millions of wedding gifts we received you think we know who gave us what?
      4. No problem Angela/Jason. What other earrings did you pack as alternatives if something like this came up? None? Huh. OK.

      • Snuffles says:

        If they were scared, it’s because they knew they fucked up and would be harshly questioned as to why the jewelry was offered up in the first place if they knew there was a potential problem with them.

    • Amy Bee says:

      Meghan has no control over what royal jewels she wears. She has to get permission from Angela Kelly to wear any pieces. So this update is a lie.

    • Nic919 says:

      It’s clear Angela Kelly knew and set them up.

    • And the royal PR clowns just keep working overtime trying to get their feet out of their mouths. It’s not just the so-called media that are carnival clowns. What a ClusterF**k!

    • Islandgirl says:

      What kind of journalist wrote this story?
      Why do they have to keep revising and clarifying?

      • Sid says:

        That’s the problem with basing something mostly on a lie. Each time part of it gets called out, you have to change your story in response. Until it eventually falls apart.

    • Elizabeth says:

      “out of fear for what their reaction would be.”

      BS!!!! Come on, that’s pure BS. Do your job. Trying to turn it around like Meghan is so frightening and scary, when it was they who failed to do due diligence on provenance and who failed notify their employers (Meghan and Harry) with promptness when it did occur to their dull heads to check up. That is not Meghan’s fault, that’s her employees / KP staff’s fault. It is not Meghan’s personal job to track jewelry provenance. That is absolutely what staff is for. I’m sure she takes some interest and ultimately is responsible for her employees but wtf! I would fire those people or at least give them a lecture on responsibility and probably make them cry and send them to HR because they actually got called on a mistake, or a deliberate sabotage. This is ridiculous in every way.

    • SenseOfTheAbsurd says:

      Well, as this is such a huge issue, BP and KP have naturally returned these earrings to the Saudi royal family and stated why they can’t accept them, right?

      ::crickets::

      Remember all the dirt that came out in early wikileaks as to Andrew’s shady arms-dealing facilitation with the Saudis?

  20. mtec says:

    Wasn’t Fergie a guest of MBS just shortly after the whole Epstein/Andrew scandal got heated? If they wanna talk about shady Royal connections to Saudis they should start there.

  21. Jane Doe says:

    Every Black woman who has integrated a white workplace has been smeared and lied on in the worst way. This is awful, but it’s not new, and it isn’t surprising.

    • Midge says:

      Every? come on. It’s a problem but we need to be careful. “Every” is simply not true. When we speak in hyperbole, we lose our message. I am the outraged left, but I don’t use self-defeating hyperbole.

      • Kalana says:

        Midge. You should rethink your post. It’s not doing what you think it’s doing.

      • B says:

        I have been treated this way at several points in my career. If you have not, you’re the lucky one.

      • TJE says:

        @midge Count yourself lucky if it hasn’t happened to you. But the fact remains that this is a common experience with black women. When I worked a minimum wage job in university, our store manager was let go and when he left, it was open season on me. My shifts were cut, I got the crappiest shifts, accused of fighting customers. And I wasn’t even in a position of power. Things got so bad I had to transfer locations.

  22. Who ARE these people? says:

    So nasty. Let the UK stop selling arms to the Saudis then let’s talk.

  23. Ainsley7 says:

    So, if the earrings were a wedding present than they would have been owned by the crown but given to Meghan for her personal use. They would be given back to the crown when she died or if they divorced. Meghan wasn’t loaned a lot of crown jewelry. So, these were probably in her collection and not with Angela Kelly. Didn’t BP also say they weren’t borrowed from the crown which led to all sorts of speculation that they were borrowed from a jeweler, or another female Royal. I also remember some people saying there are pictures of her wearing the earrings prior to the marriage. So that’s why people decided it must have been a jeweler. So, I don’t really know what to think about this new info. Under the circumstances, I could see Meghan lying to save face and BP throwing her under the bus. I could also see BP loaning them to her without telling her they were a wedding gift. Unless, people were right about her wearing them before the marriage, but maybe they were just really similar or something?

    • Becks1 says:

      I think if she had worn them before the marriage or they really were borrowed from a jeweler, at this point that information would have come out.

      I wonder if Meghan was not offered any other significant jewelry for the Oceania tour so she had to wear those earrings? It’s clear someone knew exactly where they came from, but this seems like a long con – to wait 2.5 years to reveal they were from MBS and therefore Meghan supports murder?

      • EllenOlenska says:

        Well you know about her avocados of doom… honestly I do think Meghan and Harry may have made some missteps during their times (and I can’t really point to any specifically). No one is ever perfect. However the timing of this crap show is suspect. And @Ainsley7 may well be correct. Maybe Meghan did know. I don’t know when the jewels were packed for the trip or the later event.

        I believe the DM was just shot down on their appeal request. Maybe they threw scraps they had to the Times…

      • Becks1 says:

        Maybe Meghan did know that they were from the Saudis but didnt think that was a big deal, considering how much Saudi jewelry the other royals wear?

      • (TheOG) Jan90067 says:

        There would be full fittings of outfits, styled out with jewels, purses, shoes, etc BEFORE being packed for a trip. Not only for fit, but to see how it looked put together. There’s no way jewels were packed up and Meghan was told, “Just wear the earrings in box marked to go with the turquoise dress,” and she did it blindly.

        My thinking is she just knew they were a wedding gift, *perhaps* she knew from whom, but she KNEW they were logged as part of the Crown Jewels and ONLY ON LOAN for her personal use. So, she wore them! If it was me, and they *were GIVEN to me* for my use, I’d assume it was ALRIGHT TO WEAR THEM, otherwise, *why* would I be given them??

        To try and pin this on MEGHAN??? Yeah… no. Not her province.

      • JanetDR says:

        Love your sum up OG Jan!

  24. Sunday says:

    In March, before Meghan even married Harry, the Queen literally had lunch with MBS at Buckingham Palace (google it). This is undoubtedly when she received the earrings – whether she accepted them on behalf of the Saudis as a wedding gift for Meghan or as just some more shady jewelry in the royal collection, they were officially treated as property of the crown because the Queen received them.

    We know from tiaragate that Meghan wouldn’t have gotten carte blanche to pick out whatever pieces of jewelry she wanted – the queen’s staff would have selected a bunch of pieces from which she could then choose, hence ‘borrowing’ them. So who does this ‘expose’ because from where I’m sitting it’s not Meghan. Meghan’s not the one who sells arms to the Saudis, that’s the UK government. Meghan’s not the one whose had copious meetings and visits with the Saudi royals, that’d be prince charles and prince pedophile. If the earrings were so toxic, why did the Queen accept them in the first place? How was Meghan (or even the queen, to be fair) supposed to know about mbs’ connection to the murder before it was even announced? And, why are they still part of the royal collection?? Why hasn’t the queen sent them back AFTER confirmation of the murder?

    All of this points back to the palace at every turn. This is by far the most desperate and the absolute sloppiest attempted smear they’ve tried yet, and I really hope Meghan sues the Times into the ground and Oprah adds a segment dissecting this attack in retaliation for an interview that hasn’t even aired because it really illustrates everything Meghan has had to deal with.

    • misery chick says:

      This interview needs to be THREE hours…you know Lady O has the material and if she updates the shite accusations in just the last two weeks…

  25. M says:

    If you removed all of the items of suspect origin from the Crown’s collection, I suspect there wouldn’t be anything left! Also, Camilla has millions of dollars worth of jewelry from the Saudi Arabian Royal Family. Where is that smear campaign? Oh that’s right. She’s white and English.

    • lanne says:

      Diana’s famous sapphire suite that Kate wears is from the Saudis as well. I guess we won’t see that anymore? And Kate hasn’t even worn the really big pieces of it yet.

  26. Amy Bee says:

    For the palace to now have qualms about where their jewellery come from is ridiculous. I hope that means they will be returning all their stolen jewels to their rightful owners. Another thing it would seem that KP forgot Meghan worked for UN women before she married Harry or they’re trying to undermine her relationship with UN women. Either way Meghan would have welcomed the chance to work with them again and if she had reservations the event would not have been on the schedule to begin with.

  27. VIV says:

    Why is Meghan supposed to identify and remember where everything for her tours comes from? Isn’t that someone else’s job?

  28. lee says:

    Can anyone explain why the House of Windsor is clearly leaking these stories to discredit Harry and Meghan? The Saudi Royal family, a family with real power is not going to be pleased to see its expensive gift insulted or be dragged into this tiffling tempest in a tea pot. The Queen moving up her speech to compete with the Oprah interview and upstage her own grandson. Showing all those people and countries of color in the Commonwealth her all white brood in a telecast while villifying the Royal Family’s only member of color. The queen seems incapable of grasping that the colonial era is over, Its ridiculous.

  29. Thick.as.Thieves says:

    The BRF is obviously using Meghan’s press coverage as a shield:
    “The queen’s second son has held 70 meetings with repressive Middle East monarchies in the decade since the Arab Spring uprisings. Most meetings took place after Prince Andrew’s role as official trade envoy ended in 2011 amid the Epstein scandal, with UK diplomatic support for his Gulf trips lasting into 2019.
    Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, opened controversial military base and security course in Bahrain despite ongoing torture of pro-democracy activists
    The prince continued to deal with senior Saudi officials after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by other Saudi diplomats
    Andrew’s flights to meet Gulf autocrats have cost the UK public hundreds of thousands of pounds
    Until last week the Duke of York was listed as patron of a UK-Oman business association alongside the country’s sultan, who bans political parties and independent media. Buckingham Palace denies Andrew has ‘any patronages“

    • And who bought his house,Sunnyside, or whatever he called it? It sat on market for years and then one of his rich Saudi friends paid several million over asking price, then tore it down?

  30. Noor says:

    Extreme pettiness. With the British Empire long gone, only pettiness and small minded island mentality left behind. God save the queen.

  31. Beach Dreams says:

    W&K/Knauf/KP are SUCH dumbasses. In their desperate rush to smear Meghan again (and sinking to a new low in doing so), they’re blasting open the gates for people to question the RF’s collection at large. Hell, they’re opening the door for scrutiny into the RF’s relations with the Saudis too. Declassified UK had recently done a series on the entanglements. It received moderate attention, and now this half-baked attack has encouraged them to retweet their findings and get far more eyeballs on that mess.

    • Myra says:

      Exactly. No one was talking about the earring. I don’t believe anyone was losing sleep over where it came from, until KP (William) wanted us to know about it. I expect that they only wear ethically sourced jewellery from now on. I’m actually doing a countdown on the return of the Kohinoor. I’m sure it’s going to be any day now.

      • Snuffles says:

        I’m gonna need a detailed article of all the Crown jewels and their provenance. What was stolen, what comes from murderous regimes…the whole shebang!

      • Myra says:

        The year of purchase or receipt, registration details of the mining company, criminal records of the gifter, updated child labour laws in the sourced jurisdiction… I want it all!!🤣

  32. Mina_Esq says:

    This is absurd, but you know that there are hateful people in the UK that will believe anything. Even an absurd narrative that Meghan hates the UN and likes MSB.

  33. Cee says:

    I am so mad I can’t even write down a coherent thought.

  34. aquarius64 says:

    Again all roads lead to KP. The queen and Charles must be livid that KP is doing this. The I hope House Cambridge is burned to the ground.

  35. Sarah says:

    India/Pakistan called. They want the Kohinoor back. Is that borrowed as well?

  36. EllenOlenska says:

    Wasn’t Meghan told to ditch her work with UNWomen BY THE PALACE after her engagement? https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/whats-next-for-meghan-markle-following-prince-harry-engagement Maybe she was trying to do what she was told to do!

    • Excellent thread. Thanks, Jane Doe.

    • windyriver says:

      This is a really interesting thread. Someone above said that Harry and Meghan were in Birmingham when TQ received these earrings (though Charles and William were reportedly present).

      I’m not familiar with the writer on this Twitter feed, who describes themselves as “a historian & collections manager”. We already know, and it’s mentioned, it would be TQ’s dresser with final say on selections offered to anyone (or if they’re offered). A comment from this feed:

      “The only people who know or have access to the provenance information of *all* the royal jewelry is a very small number. Prob queen’s dresser, the collections manager, maybe some small support staff. This info is kept secret for political reasons.”

      Also, from another thread on their main Twitter page, the conclusion: “At the time Meghan first wore the earrings, during an Oct 2018 tour, they were either considered a neutral gift OR staff let her wear them knowing full well it may not be politically correct anymore.”

      That last bit is from a long section added on the main page, doing what I hoped someone would do – show pictures of other royal family members – Camilla, Sophie, Kate, (Diana) – decked out in Saudi jewels; in Kate’s case, wearing jewels of likely middle eastern origin whose provenance has not been disclosed.

      Thanks Jane Doe for pointing his out, very detailed and informative.

  37. Lowrider says:

    This smear is most vile and has nothing to do with earrings.

    What palace wants to do here is link Meghans name with MBS. The British royals receive a lot of gifts from the Saudis so that is a non story. But linking Meghan , MBS and murder is rock bottom disgusting.

  38. Gingerbee says:

    Ugh, I hate those motherf**kers, the carnival of so called experts, and they will be the downfall of the monarchy. Can’t wait when the House of Windsor implode.

  39. sandy says:

    Another weird smear campaign led/leaked by Angela Kelly (and William/KP) just like the tiara fiasco nonsense. Just to make Meghan look bad when in reality all it does is show how deranged the whole royal family is.

  40. Jay says:

    I’m sure that after this incident, the royal family feels so strongly about how important it is not to accept looted items or gifts from repressive regimes, that the Queen must have ordered Angela Kelly to dig through their vaults and send back anything with a dubious provenance. Maybe with a polite note. No?

    • Sid says:

      These people really have a dug a hole for themselves haven’t they? Yet they don’t comprehend it.

    • ennie says:

      maybe sell them and put the money for charitable projects? nnnnoooooooo that’d never happen!

  41. Lesley says:

    OK, so Meghan wasn’t allowed to wear an emerald tiara due to its supposed dodgy provenance, but she’s sent off to Fiji with earrings of definitely dodgy provenance? KP staff must have had to get out the Big Book of Stupid Excuses to come up with “we were scared” when asked why they didn’t let Harry and Meghan know the source of the earrings. If Meghan wasn’t there when the earrings were given and AK47 gave her no information about them then why is Meghan being blamed?

    * I’ve never believed the emerald tiara story, if there was such a tiara then why haven’t the press pushed for a photo of the thing? Because it’s a made up story???

    • Lizzie Bathory says:

      It’s a little confusing because there are 2 emerald tiaras, either of which could have been the subject of tiaragate.

      The Vladimir tiara is the one with dodgy provenance (surrounding Queen Mary’s purchase of it in 1921). But the Queen has worn it many times (with & without the emeralds), so they can’t be *that* worried about the background. I think that one never would have been considered for any royal bride since it’s one that seems “reserved” for the Queen, plus it has a lot of pieces & seems like a pain to deal with. The other emerald tiara is the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik, which Eugenie wore for her wedding. That’s the one that was most thought to be related to tiaragate (which I also don’t think was anything more than a nasty story started by AK-47 & KP).

    • misery chick says:

      “AK47″…ROTFLMFAO!!!!!!!

  42. Lowrider says:

    Laineys take on this earring smear is correct. A low, vile character assassination.

  43. Drun says:

    So Meghan may be guilty of bad judgement; but surely when she asked for the jewels to wear, someone should have said something? Or did she keep them in her underwear draw?

  44. Julia K says:

    I need to quit reading. My blood pressure is soaring due to the unbelievable unfairness of this whole shifty mess.

    • Julia K says:

      Shitty

      • MerlinsMom1018 says:

        Maybe it’s just me but it seems like the bashing and smearing of Meghan really has cranked up another 6 notches since a) the pregnancy announcement and b) the Oprah interview announcement. I mean, the RR and the family never REALLY let up on her (and Harry) but it just seems like the absolute hysteria has gone off the rails (yet again)

      • MerlinsMom1018 says:

        Shifty works too

  45. Monica says:

    All this (ahem) pearl-clutching around Meghan and the crown jewels has me wondering if there’s some kind of problem with having a Black woman wear them.

  46. Dropbear says:

    This smear story has Angela Kelly’s spittle all over it, aided and abetted by PwT, who accepted it from MBS in person along with petty Betty and Chucks, and definitely was in on the provenance of those earring. AK lords it over the Royal Collection and so all fingers point back to her for knowingly recommending and giving those earrings to MM. Malicious compliance much BP?

  47. rasiche says:

    Is it weird that the first thing i thought while reading this is that
    those earrings are too large for meghan’s face and it looks kind of tacky
    I was more suprised by meghan’s fashion misstep than anything else

  48. Christine says:

    Firstly, thank you for splitting this utterly horrifying smear campaign into multiple articles, instead of one big one. The Times article is such a diabolical, deeply woven lie, it needed to be split up, in order to see the HUGE picture that the smear campaign from KP really amounts to, and one article does not do that.

    But this one? The idea that MEGHAN MARKLE, OF ALL PEOPLE, knew a pair of earrings came from the man who assassinated Jamal Khashoggi, and chose to wear them because she loves pretty, pretty things so much, is the worst, in my opinion. Is there truly a single person aware and alive who thinks so little of her, that they think she would joyfully wear JEWELRY from a murderer, with knowledge of that fact? SERIOUSLY???? Any and all good will I have ever had for any member of the royal family, including Princess Anne and Zara, and believe me, I really adored the two of them, has evaporated, because NOT ONE OF THEM said anything in Meghan’s defense.

    This is so mind numbingly stupid. I am nauseous, and I’m not a member of this family. Poor Meghan and Harry, I cannot imagine the conversations they have been having today. How does Harry ever go back to England and look ANY of his family in the face, after not a single one of them has stepped up today and defended her? I do not know. This has cast the fact that I have been mildly irritated with my sister in law for the last 21 years that she has never offered to help with Thanksgiving dinner in a new light. I have an awesome sister in law, it is not her fault I never asked for her help, it’s mine. My God, the royal family is an utter sh*t show.

    ETA: I cannot let it go. This is the couple that made sure to let the world know that Harry made her engagement ring from diamonds from his mother’s bracelet, and other, ethically sourced diamonds. THIS IS THAT COUPLE! They want us to believe Meghan was all, “screw it, fancy things make me look good!” F off.

    • misery chick says:

      BRAVO!

    • Q says:

      👏👏👏 best comment, thank you. I can’t believe people are even entertaining the idea that meghan knew and chose to wear it anyway.

      Words fail me. I just-