In his newly published memoir, fashion designer Roland Mouret describes how a clerical mix-up at his label — in which a request for the return of complimentary garments was routed through the Princess of Wales's office — led Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, to decide she would no longer wear pieces from his collection.
The memoir, carrying the title I Am Roland Mouret: The Butcher's Boy Who Dressed the World, is scheduled for publication next week. Extracts broadcast by a news channel pointed to a breakdown in communications: a member of Mouret's staff had reached out to Kensington Palace rather than the duchess's own team when attempting to arrange the return of the items.
According to Mouret's account, Meghan contacted him by phone to express that his actions had left her feeling humiliated and that he had not grasped the consequences of what he had done. Mouret places the dispute somewhere in the window between the point at which Meghan and Prince Harry's relationship became publicly known and the couple's exit from royal duties in 2020, without pinpointing a more precise date.
According to his account, she indicated that forgiving him was not something she was prepared to do, and that wearing anything bearing his name was no longer an option for her. In a written account published afterwards, the designer alleged that Meghan had worn a garment he identified as a low-cost high street imitation of one of his pieces, a claim he said prompted him to contact her by text to express his view that her choice was unreasonable.
According to the memoir, the wardrobe decision rested with Meghan alone — the author notes that palace staff played no part in it and that the matter drew little attention from anyone else involved. Privately, he found the reasoning behind the ruling hard to follow, yet he raised no formal objection to it. No statement was made available from the representative acting on behalf of the Duchess of Sussex regarding the allegations.
A £1,450 Roland Mouret gown featured in Meghan's wardrobe the day before her May 2018 wedding, a period when she and the designer already counted themselves among each other's circle of friends, a connection that had taken root during a shared holiday in Turkey three years earlier.
Beckham's entry into the fashion world in 2008 also features in the memoir, with Mouret's role in supporting that venture forming part of the account. The book recounts that Victoria felt her concerns went unacknowledged at the time — a period during which he had been brought in to support her work.
Speaking about their shared past in the Netflix series that carries her name, Victoria portrayed the relationship in favourable terms, while also recounting how Mouret would push back against her decisions during the formative period of building her label — years she described as ones that brought her to tears repeatedly. According to the published extracts, Mouret maintains that making her cry was never his intention, and that he has no recollection of the episode taking place. In his written account, the assertion put forward was that harming Victoria lay entirely outside anything he would ever consider doing.
A dinner meeting between the two — joined by her husband David Beckham, who Mouret noted turned up late and stayed largely quiet throughout — preceded their professional collaboration. Mouret later described how Victoria put the question to him directly — asking whether he was attracted to David — and went on to share her view that gay men universally desired her husband.
He told her he had no personal interest in David whatsoever, and assured her that, in his view, no gay man who found him attractive would feel the same way about David. Leaning closer, he mentioned that a number of gay men found him attractive — a comment that sent Victoria into fits of laughter.
His writing also takes in the Princess of Wales, a client for whom he has been creating gowns since 2011 — a relationship now spanning more than fifteen years. He acknowledges that fame holds broad appeal, though the view put forward is that Kate, given the full weight of her responsibilities and her marriage, would likely trade public recognition for a quieter life if that option were open to her.
The book describes how Mouret and Meghan happened upon each other in a lift at a Turkish hotel in 2015, with Meghan wearing a dressing gown as she made her way to the Soho House spa. Hearing his name, she responded with laughter and an audible expression of pleasure. The show's producers had incorporated his designs into Suits, he noted, a fact he credited with bringing him financial returns.
A plan to reconvene at a party that night brought the two of them closer together. In an account attributed to Mouret, he describes receiving a text message from Meghan after she had returned to Canada for her work on Suits, in which she conveyed that a relationship had ended and that she was planning a European trip that summer, having found herself unattached and ready for a new experience. According to the published extracts, he was one of the first people to learn of her feelings for Harry.
