Kensington Palace Has Had To Deny The Strangest Meghan Markle Rumour Yet

Strangely enough, it seems that Meghan Markle just can’t escape dog-related headlines at the moment. Earlier this week, it was reported that the Duchess of Sussex’s rescue dog Guy had inspired a new children’s book. Now, she’s the subject of another, more bizarre canine-based conspiracy.

It all started with a tweet, specifically a tweet posted yesterday by American entertainment reporter Lisa Petrillo, who appears to be taking a holiday in London right now. The journalist posted an image showing a ‘beautiful woman with a familiar air’ at Kensington Palace, the woman in question walking a dog while wearing an outfit very similar to Meghan’s typical off-duty ensemble: baseball cap, leggings and trainers, all in black. Her caption provided a little more colour as to what the Duchess – or the Duchess doppelganger – was up to, revealing:

‘So incredibly enough, walking by @kensingtonroyal – we spotted this beautiful woman with a familiar air outside the entrance to the private residence where Harry & Meghan live. MEGHAN?! Her dog was doing his business. She couldn’t have been sweeter.’ And as for Lisa’s final hashtag? #princessespickuppooptoo. ‘I’m still in total shock! I pet her dog’ she added in a later tweet.

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Naturally, the picture caused quite a stir on social media – a Duchess? Picking up after her own dog? – and Kensington Palace has since been forced to deny that the photo actually features Meghan (per a counter-report from TMZ). And, all things considered, there are a handful of elements to this story that don't quite add up, tempting as it might be to imagine the Duchess keeping the Palace grounds tidy and hygenic.

First, there's the dog itself, which is white with dark ears, and resembles neither star author Guy nor Harry and Meghan's new dog Oz, who is said to be a black labrador. Then there's the distinct lack of security detail: having caught up on all episodes of Bodyguard, we now consider ourselves experts in this particular field - and it's pretty unlikely that someone of the Duchess's public profile would be roaming about without a protection officer. Plus, a little digging reveals the location of the photo to be far less close to Meghan and Harry's home than first imagined: the royal apartments are, naturally, set away from the open parts of Kensington Palace, while this image appears to have been taken at the busier public entrance.

It seems, then, that Petrillo's post was something of an honest misunderstanding. After all, when faced with a Meghan Markle lookalike at the gates of Kensington Palace, wouldn't we all choose to believe it was actually her?