Moment Meghan Markle sparked fury over ‘disrespectful’ poppy choice | Royal | News
Meghan Markle’s choice of poppies and choosing to wear them has sparked public outrage in the past. Last November, the Duchess of Sussex appeared in a video with her husband discussing the safety of children in the digital world. Although they both wore poppies, Meghan’s appeared to have no leaves on the stem, making it look more like a Scottish or Canadian design.
After the clip emerged, commentator Lee Cohen criticized the Duchess on GB News, saying: “When I saw this I made a post that went viral on Twitter, saying that it sickened me to see Meghan Markle wearing a poppy in memory of the nation’s noble dead. She’s so disrespectful, so disrespectful and it seems like a lot of people agree.” The controversy over Meghan wearing a poppy arose in 2023, when she and Prince Harry stepped out together to attend the opening of a new Navy fitness center in San Diego, CA.
While November 11 marks Armistice Day in the United Kingdom and other countries around the world, and thousands of people wear poppies and approach the day to commemorate the day, this is not the case in America. Instead, in the United States, November 11 is celebrated as Veterans Day in honor of the Armed Forces. This means that wearing a poppy is not required, and instead poppies in the US tend to be worn for Memorial Day in May.
So when Meghan wore a poppy for this visit on November 8, 2023, it caused outrage among American veterans because it was a nod to British tradition rather than American tradition.
“Who told him it would be a nice look to wear a British poppy while ‘celebrating American veterans’,” one angry person wrote on social media at the time.
The poppies Meghan donated on that occasion did not match any of those sold by the Royal British Legion at the time.
Another said: “I didn’t think poppies were worn on Veterans Day in the US but I thought they were worn on Memorial Day in May? Am I wrong?” They claimed Meghan was “front and centre” at the event.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are still celebrating Remembrance Day from across the pond after stepping away from senior royal life and the United Kingdom in 2020.
Prince Harry has always been keen to celebrate the day as he served in the Army, including two tours in Afghanistan.
The prince, who no longer attends Remembrance Day celebrations with the Royal Family in the UK, has repeatedly expressed how important serving in the armed forces was to him.
He has also devoted plenty of time to helping injured veterans through the Invictus Games Foundation, which he founded in 2014.
