Princess Beatrice recently pulled back the curtain on her life in a candid British Vogue essay, and everyone's abuzz. The 36-year-old princess dished on her health crisis and the premature arrival of her second daughter, Athena, revealing a glimpse of herself we don't get to see that often. Whereas Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's girls tend to maintain a low profile, Beatrice's frank moment seems like a change—particularly since King Charles and Kate Middleton's own cancer struggles have broken open the royal armor. But one reporter is raising an eyebrow, cautioning Beatrice may be "becoming Meghan Markle" with this gesture.
Liz Jones, penning for the Daily Mail, couldn't help but draw a line directly to the Duchess of Sussex. Meghan's made a living off of going bare—consider her Oprah tell-all, Netflix docu-series, and that gut-wrenching 2020 New York Times essay on her miscarriage. And now, Beatrice's Vogue essay, in which she speaks candidly about her daughter's premature birth, rings a familiar bell. Jones points out the way Beatrice is framing this as a career highlight, introducing a high-end baby shower collection to raise money—a move that screams Meghan-esque.
The collection’s got some serious sticker shock, and that’s where Jones gets skeptical. Beatrice teamed up with posh designer Alice Naylor-Leyland for a luxe lineup: think £332 for a set of eight plates and £82 for blue stork table decorations (already sold out, apparently). Jones snarks it’s all a bit “ladies-who-lunch” and “Meghan-esque”—too polished, too pricey, too much like the Duchess’s American Riviera Orchard hustle. She even teases that these storks may actually frighten the children, not inspire them.
Jones doesn't stop there. She takes a swipe at Beatrice's husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, implying he might have invested his money in clinics or playgrounds rather than yet another upscale home with a cinema room and pool. The judgment? Beatrice's milestone is less royal, more Hollywood—and too darn close to Meghan Markle's formula of personal-story-meets-gain. On X, fans are divided: some applaud Beatrice's transparency, others eye-roll it as imitation.
So, is Beatrice forging her own trail or copying Meghan's template? Her Vogue essay and baby shower appearance are a daring move—but is it a new royal look or a Duchess copycat routine, 2025 is watching intently.
