It doesn't add up at all.
In the Times
extract that deals with Thomas, I saw this bit:
His bespoke suit and custom shoes were waiting at the Oliver Brown tailor in Chelsea, southwest London, and Harry had asked a military veteran to accompany Meghan’s father. “The treatment that Meghan’s mother, Doria, received when she arrived here is exactly what was planned for Thomas,” a senior aide added, noting that he would have been put up in a hotel and given a protection officer and assistant during his stay.
Oliver Brown seemed odd to me. Harry's tailor all his life (pre Meghan and the Attack of the Grey Polo Shirt) was Gieves & Hawkes. Then I remembered this.
A week after the wedding, a
story broke about 'Thomas Markle's wedding suit' was recycled and bought by a PR chap who just happened to have the same measurements as Mr Thomas! What a coincidence! And happily wore the suit to Ascot and provided pictures! But... that tailor was in Savile Row - not Oliver Brown of Chelsea. Or was it?
Sports PR Johnno Spence confirmed to UK newspaper The Sunday Telegraph that he had purchased Thomas’ wedding outfit from a tailor in exclusive London clothing district Savile Row.
Mr Spence visited the tailor to get a suit made for last week’s Royal Ascot, but it turned out he had almost the same dimensions as Mr Markle, so purchased the already made outfit instead.
“It was a shame Mr Markle couldn’t attend his daughter’s wedding. But you could say his misfortune was my good luck,” Mr Spence told the newspaper.
As well as purchasing the suit, Mr Spence also bought additional clothing made by the tailor and intended for Mr Markle to wear while in the UK. “[The tailor’s] face lit up and he said ‘Well, actually I’ve got the perfect thing for you, a tail suit, a summer suit and three shirts we made for Mr Markle, but unfortunately he couldn’t take them.’”
But then if you go to the Daily Mail's version of the same story back in June 2018, you get this
Johnno Spence, a PR guru to the horseracing world, picked up the ‘semi-bespoke’ morning suit for a bargain price when he visited Chelsea outfitters Oliver Brown.
Meghan had personally commissioned the company’s owner Kristian Robson to make several men’s summer outfits for her father, not just the suit for the wedding, suggesting that his visit to the UK had been intended to last several days. Her shopping list included three shirts with size 18 collars and double cuffs, in blue, yellow and white; a navy blue weekend suit; a single-breasted waistcoat; and a set of tails – all in size XL.
Old Harrovian Mr Spence paid £2,000 for the items, around half the full price, and proudly wore the morning suit to Ascot.
The Duchess of Sussex may well have caught a glimpse of him wearing her father’s suit as she breezed past him on her way into the Royal Enclosure on the first day of Ascot, last Tuesday.
The source added: ‘It is common practice for the Royals to wave at Enclosure guests as they arrive in the carriage procession and Johnno will have caught Meghan’s eye, perhaps. ‘He has met the Queen a few times and had dinner with her once.’
So... the whole 'Look I ordered suits for my Dad! See how much I wanted him at the wedding' just smells like a PR sham (ordering a bespoke tailsuit 'in size XL'?) . But her team were very keen to get that story out.
Wouldn't it be funny if the Mail depose the tailor to find out exactly when they took Mr Markle's inside leg measurement?
hmm not sure I believe that.
