A nude clip allegedly showing Meghan Markle nude has hit the internet, marking what could be a battle for Kensington Palace reminiscent of the explicit photos of Kate Middleton published a few years ago.
This week, the notoriously explicit website Celeb Jihad released a few still images of Markle topless in what it called a preview of a larger leak to come. That brought an immediate response from Kensington Palace, which called the photos “fake,” the IB Times reported.
But within hours, Celeb Jihad released a new video appearing to show Meghan Markle nude. The clip was reportedly taken at a beach vacation, with Markle wearing a swimsuit bottom but appearing topless. The video quickly went viral, being shared across social media and leading to Markle’s name becoming a trending term on Friday. The website in question has become notorious for posting fake nude photos of celebrities — including several of Kate Middleton — but has also published some legitimate photos and videos that had been stolen from celebrities.
The response appeared to show that the website may have more explicit videos of Meghan Markle to come and signaled what could be a pitched battle for Kensington Palace. When Kate Middleton’s nude photos were released in 2012, the royal family went on the offensive, suing the French magazine Closer for publishing the photos, which were taken while she was on vacation using a long-range camera lens.
As Vogue noted, a judge ordered the magazine to pay Kate Middleton and Prince William 100,000 euros in damages and fined two magazine staffers an additional 90,000 euros for publishing the photos. Though Kensington Palace initially declared that the nude photos of Meghan Markle were fake, reports across social media appear to indicate that the nude video appears legitimate.
Queen Elizabeth II gives official consent for Prince Harry to marry Meghan Markle. https://t.co/v479q6SY25 pic.twitter.com/AB1Zhean54
— ABC News (@ABC) March 15, 2018
The nude video was released just after Queen Elizabeth II gave her official consent for Prince Harry to marry Markle. It was not clear if the timing of the leak was intentional to coincide with this news.
The magazine described the ruling as a “watershed” moment for the royal family, declaring that the pictures were a gross invasion of Kate Middleton’s privacy. That could also set the precedent for a response to the alleged nude video of Meghan Markle, which likely would have been stolen from her. In the past four years, there have been a series of explicit photos and videos released from dozens of celebrities, the majority stolen through phishing schemes. Celeb Jihad did not reveal the source of the alleged nude video of Meghan Markle.