View source for The Real Reason Why Meghan Markle Threw Extravagant 'baby Shower'

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Meghan Markle was eager [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/newark-to-jfk-transportation-tips-6-honest-facts-for-2026/02052026 newark to jfk transportation tips] have a baby shower that fulfilled her wildest dreams. <br><br>Her high expectations were met when she had an extravagant party inside the largest hotel penthouse suite in the US at the five-star Mark Hotel in New York.<br><br>The 10,000 square feet pad costs £57,000 a night and is spread across two floors, it has five bedrooms, two bars, four fireplaces, six bathrooms and two powder rooms, with stellar views on its rooftop terrace over Central Park. <br><br>The guest list for the pre-Archie bash on February 20, 2019, did not comprise a single member of her family, nor her new sister-in-law Kate Middleton.<br><br>Instead she partied with celebrities including tennis-ace Serena Williams, Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, fashion designer Misha Nonoo and lawyer Amal Clooney.<br><br>Altogether the around 20 guests were greeted to an event of grandeur, with a groaning table of lavishly displayed flowers, Michelin-star quality food and high-end gift bags for everyone.<br><br>It is alleged that the eye-watering cost of the party cost anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 in total. <br><br>In contrast Princess Kate opted not to have a baby shower before Prince George in 2013, or for any of her other children, with one royal expert telling ABC News at the time that 'a lavish baby shower would be seen as highly inappropriate'. <br><br><br><br><br>Meghan Markle at her baby shower in New York with her friend and Suits co-star Abigail Spencer on February 20, 2019<br><br><br><br><br><br>Some of the guests, left to right: Hair stylist Serge Normant, Soho House global membership director Markus Anderson; Suits star Abigail Spencer; fashion publicist Celine Khavarani; makeup artist Daniel Martin; mother-to-be Meghan Markle, designer Misha Nonoo; tennis star Serena Williams; fitness guru Taryn Toomey, and university friend Lindsay Roth.<br><br><br><br><br><br>The extravagant party was held inside the largest hotel penthouse suite in the US at the five-star Mark Hotel (pictured) in New York, which cost £57,000 a night<br><br>But it seems Meghan, who in 2019 was still a working member of the Royal Family, was not worried about how it would look and pressed on regardless.<br><br>The acclaimed royal biographer Tom Bower claimed that Meghan's glitzy New York bash was not a usual shower and was instead organised to promote the Duchess and her friend's careers.<br><br>In his 2022 bestselling book Revenge, he wrote: 'The result [of the planning] bore no resemblance to a traditional shower party to anticipate a child's birth. Rather it was a launch-pad for a group of friends set on financially exploiting Meghan's status.<br><br>He continued: 'The guest list was Meghan's latest shot at launching her own celebrity in America.<br><br>'She had no intention of following the Queen's notable frugality. <br><br>'Journalists and photographers, briefed by the organisers, were crammed behind specially erected crash-barrier outside the hotel.'<br><br>Despite promoting herself as a philanthropist and friend to the environment, Meghan flew in on a private jet for the star-studded event.<br><br>Bower wrote: 'After conversations with Oprah Winfrey and others, it was said, Meghan asked Serena Williams' publicists to arrange the party.' <br><br>After arriving, the wealthy celebrities were then able to tuck into the signature macaron towers of a fancy French bakery which boasted they 'evoke the Parisian glamour and elegance that Marie Antoinette would approve of'. <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Lavish: The baby shower took place in the Penthouse Suite at The Mark Hotel, which was widely reported to be the most expensive per-night hotel room in the US<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>A host of celebrities - including Amal Clooney (left) and Abigail Spencer (right) were invited to the baby shower<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Meghan's make-up artist Daniel Martin (left) and Fashion designer Misha Nonoo (right) were among the invitees <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>CBS News host Gayle King (left) and Jessica Mulroney (right) were also at the party<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Presents for the guests? On the day of Meghan's shower, about 17 Away suitcases were delivered to The Mark Hotel, each of which cost $225<br><br><br><br><br>The Duchess of Sussex was unlikely to welcome comparisons to the 18th Century French queen who, when told that her subjects were starving and had no bread, replied: 'Let them eat cake.'<br><br>Made from organic almond flour, eggs and sugar, each delicate macaron is handmade using two outer shells with a piped ganache filling.<br><br>The table, covered in a thick cream linen tablecloth, was anchored by a spectacular centrepiece of a huge glass vase containing 3ft high cherry blossom branches.<br><br>In addition to the macaron towers, the cakes and confectionery were thought to have been made by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, whose eponymous restaurant at The Mark is considered one of the finest in New York.<br><br>According [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/newark-to-jfk-transportation-tips-6-honest-facts-for-2026/02052026 newark to jfk transportation tips] People, after the event guests were gifted Cuyana leather totes that were filled to the brim with products, much like Oscars swag bags. <br><br>Bower claims that The Mark, which is promoted as 'NYC's most boldly lavish hotel', was one of the city's few luxury hotels that could guarantee full-frontal publicity for every arrival. He wrote 'a side door was practically unusable'. <br><br>So when Meghan did try and use the still-very-public side door, she was predictably snapped by the horde of photographers waiting for her outside.<br><br>But a Daily Mail investigation into the event months later revealed she only snuck out of the 'side door' to avoid giving the impression she was enjoying the media attention.<br><br><br><br><br>When Meghan used the side door to leave, she was snapped by the horde of photographers waiting for her outside<br><br><br><br><br><br>The Duchess of Sussex leaving The Mark after her baby shower on February 20, 2019<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Tom Bower's bestselling book Revenge is about Meghan and it was published in 2022<br><br>State Department documents exclusively obtained revealed the Duchess told her protective detail she wanted to change the 'optics' of her departure by using a side entrance.<br><br>The truth was that her demand to leave the hotel out of a service door necessitated vehicles be moved to line up at the door, telegraphing the change, according to the report. <br><br>But Meghan's guests also seemed to enjoy the high-profile nature of the event to promote themselves in various ways with 'Meghan's blessing' to do so, according to Bower. <br><br>He claims Serena Williams 're-advertised her brand citing Meghan's name' after the event. <br><br>And Amal Clooney 'clearly wanted to be photographed walking towards the hotel door' he also wrote.<br><br>He claims Celine Khavarani, a publicist, used the event to promote her clients' fashions.<br><br>Jessica Mulroney hoped to capitalise on her friendship to get an 'enhanced' TV contract. <br><br>The day after the party, Misha Nonoo appeared on NBC's Today programme to discuss her friend Meghan's passion for her fashion designs. <br><br>And her make-up artist Daniel Martin 'with lightning speed' had posted pictures of the food, rattles, and bibs - and his salon's address, according to Bower.<br><br><br><br><br>One worker was seen carrying a dress carrier inside the event as the celebrities gathered<br><br><br><br><br><br>Workers were seen delivering trolleys full of flowers and other packages for the event<br><br>He also claimed Abigail Spencer promoted her new show called Rectify and Janina Gavankar 'blessed the publicity generated by the baby shower' to be cast in a new acting role. <br><br>Gayle King, after appearing on CBS to plug her intimacy with Meghan following the party, successfully lobbied for a new lucrative contract, Bower claimed. <br><br><br><br>Read More<br><br>Fit for a princess (or a prince)! Inside America's most expensive hotel room - the $75,000-A-NIGHT penthouse described as 'A Castle in the Sky' - where Serena Williams and Amal Clooney are hosting a lavish baby shower for Meghan today <br><br><br>And although the celebrity guests at the party did get extensive coverage in the press, it quickly turned into a backlash when the public realised how indulgent it had been, with newspaper headlines condemning the shower as 'ostentatious'.<br><br>Bower claims Meghan's defenders retorted that the critics were racist. <br><br>Meghan herself came out in defence of the party in her and Harry's Netflix 'docuseries' in December 2022, claiming the press was trying to 'ruin' the beautiful moment.<br><br>She said: 'My girlfriends surprised me with a really beautiful baby shower in New York.<br><br>'They were like, "we're gonna shower her with love, we're gonna shower her baby with love, and she's gonna survive this".'<br><br>According to Bower, Meghan had been telling her friends the misery of life in Kensington Palace, which was 'akin to survival behind a prison wall'.<br><br>The Duchess continued in the documentary: 'These strong, successful, independent women choose to use their own money — and it's not taxpayer money— to throw a party for their friend from a place of love.<br><br>'Why are you taking such a beautiful moment and trying to ruin it?' <br><br>Meghan and Harry's 'cheerleader' Omid Scobie claimed the luxurious party left senior courtiers at Buckingham Palace 'spitting out their morning tea' when pictures emerged.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>In Omid Scobie's 2020 Sussex-friendly biography Finding Freedom, he wrote: 'While the trip had been a hit with Meghan, senior courtiers back in the UK were spitting out their morning tea'<br><br>In his 2020 Sussex-friendly biography Finding Freedom, which he authored alongside fellow journalist Carolyn Durant, he wrote: 'While the trip had been a hit with Meghan, senior courtiers back in the UK were spitting out their morning tea.<br><br>