Did Meghan Markle get some kind of ‘Kate Middleton deal’ when leasing a VW?

As I said after the Invictus Games, we need to settle in for the next month or longer, because we probably won’t have any real news about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. She’s stuck in Toronto, finishing up her work on Suits. Harry is already back in London, and he’s due to make a big appearance with William and Kate on Tuesday at Buckingham Palace. So, for the next month, we’ll be getting increasingly “no duh” stories about how Harry and Meg are “as good as engaged” and “probably already engaged.” What would have been exciting speculation in June has now become established, factual gossip in October: Harry and Meg are going to get married. It’s as good as done.

So, this new story from The Sun is pretty obvious, and we already heard some of this stuff months ago – Meghan wants to leave Suits because DERP she’s going to marry a prince. The Sun reports that Suits producers have been trying to entice her with better deals or contracts to continue on the show, but yeah, she’s probably already asked to be written off the show. Because she’s moving to London as soon as her season is done. I told you: obvious story is obvious. The Sun frames this like Meghan is making a heartbreaking decision to give up her career – while it’s true that she wouldn’t be able to continue as an actress, she’ll have another career: humanitarian, activist, advocate and duchess. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail’s Girl About Town column had this interesting piece about Meghan signing up for some weird royal Audi/VW contract:

Forget trying to spot a diamond ring – seeing Meghan Markle in a racy Volkswagen Golf is the biggest clue yet that she is well on the road to an engagement with Prince Harry. This year the stunning US actress has been spotted several times in London being driven around by burly male chauffeur in the souped-up black VW. The last time an attractive young woman linked to a Prince was seen being driven through the streets in a flash car was when a certain Kate Middleton was pictured in an Audi A3 before her engagement to William in 2010.

It turned out Kate had the car as part of a deal that Audi’s parent company VW has with the Royal Family – it offers members a 60 per cent lease discount. Now Royal watchers believe Meghan is benefiting from the same arrangement and is already considered part of The Firm.

Meghan – who made her first public appearance with Harry at the Invictus Games in Canada last weekend – is spending increasing amounts of time at Kensington Palace with the Prince. They frequent nearby members’ club Albert’s in the evenings, and during the day Meghan can often be found at 76 Dean Street – a branch of Soho House – with friends. She also pops to Mayfair salon Nails & Brows, which is also a favourite of Princess Beatrice. The 36-year-old actress is expected to relocate to London once filming of her legal drama series Suits finishes in Toronto in November. Speculation is rife that an engagement announcement will be made soon afterwards.

My source says the VW Golf was likely to have been chosen over a larger car – such as a Land Rover – for its agility when zipping through clogged streets. Meghan has been spotted on several occasions in the Golf, which does not have blacked-out windows. She sits next to the driver rather than in the back. Kensington Palace would not say who pays for the car, but it is likely Harry is bankrolling the arrangement privately. If an engagement is announced, Meghan will get taxpayer-funded security officers and drivers.

In Toronto, NBC Universal provides chauffeur-driven cars for her inbetween filming scenes for Suits. She has also starred in an America television advert driving a luxury Lexus RX. A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment and Meghan’s publicist said there is no car on ‘standby’.

[From The Daily Mail]

It was my understanding that when Kate finagled her way into that Audi lease/purchase, it was not part of some royal-approved and established scheme. It was my understanding that Kate basically talked her way into a massive discount by parlaying her then girlfriend-status and that the royals didn’t exactly have a “deal” with Audi at the time. The royals do have some kind of weird sponsorship deal with Land Rover, not Audi. So… whatever, I don’t know. I don’t doubt that Meghan has a car and driver in London, and if it’s a VW, so be it.