Talk about a mic drop moment: Over the weekend, Meghan Markle surprised us all with a trip to Europe, where she popped up on the red carpet for Balenciaga to celebrate their Spring/Summer 2026 collection—and also her friend and the brand’s new creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli—as part of Paris Fashion Week.
Meghan Markle Hits the Red Carpet in Paris, But It’s Her BTS Video That Has Me Buzzing
Oh la la
Published Oct 6, 2025
•6:52pm
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Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images
I’ve recently gotten used to seeing the Duchess of Sussex wearing California casual in and around Montecito, especially as part of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. That’s why it felt extra special to see her trade denim for high fashion, wearing not one, but two different Balenciaga looks back-to-back. (The first was a white, oversize cape with a button-down shirt and trouser of the same color; the second, a darker, sleeveless dress, both très chic.)
Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images
Still, there was something else that caught my eye: Namely, a BTS Instagram reel, posted straight to her very own grid. It gave us a window into the Duchess’s glittering weekend in Paris beyond what we saw on the red carpet. But there were three Meghan-specific insights that harken back to her pre-royal days.
1. Her Makeup Artist
The one, the only Daniel Martin, who also happens to be Global Director of Artistry for Tatcha, has been working with Meghan since her days in a leading role on Suits. (He also appeared in not one, but two different episodes of her Netflix show.) In multiple clips shared in the behind-the-scenes Instagram reel, posted by the Duchess of Sussex, Martin appears—waving hello alongside the rest of her glam squad at the Hotel Plaza Athénée (where Meghan stayed over the weekend), but also setting out a variety of Tom Ford lipsticks for Meghan to ultimately choose from as he prepped her red carpet look.
2. Her Duolingo Streak
Flash back to 2022, when Meghan revealed to Variety that, post-bedtime with her kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, she loves to do 10 minutes of Duolingo. “I really wanted to relearn French,” she shared at the time. “I studied it for the four years of high school and then...and then it just went away.” In her video from Paris, she re-affirmed that commitment to practicing the language, showing off a 100-day learning streak with a simple Duolingo graphic, which flashes quickly on the screen. It also served as a reminder that the duchess speaks a grand total of three different languages. (Beyond French and English, she is quite fluent in Spanish, a skill she picked up long before she met Prince Harry during a U.S. Embassy internship in Buenos Aires and while studying abroad in Madrid in the early 2000s.)
3. The Whole Thing Felt Rather Tig-Like
In what is no more than a 30-second Instagram reel, Meghan easily showcases her travel highlights, complete with sights to see and places to eat. No, we don’t know the exact location where she enjoyed her pastry-filled brunch, but we do know the Hotel Plaza Athénée (made iconic on Emily in Paris, but also for its uninterrupted Eiffel Tower views), the Arc de Triomphe and the overall allure of September fashion week in the City of Light. Strung together, it’s hard not to think of Meghan’s pre-royal side hustle running The Tig, where she offered non-stop recommendations for travel, food and wine. This reel feels like another extension of that—and a reminder that Meghan is quite good at editorializing her experiences. (Anyone else wish they could replicate her Parisian itinerary? I do!)
