What that solo Paris trip says about Harry and Meghan's marriage after she once said she couldn't go to French capital because of 'H's mum'.
A week on from that surprise appearance at Paris Fashion Week, and sources close to Meghan and Prince Harry remain agog.
The British friends of the Prince characterise her appearance at the event as 'beyond belief', the Californian end are more expressive and say things.
In some ways – and let's be clear, these are the ways that matter to Meghan – it was a triumph.
Following the visit, Vogue.com has put her on their best dressed at Paris Fashion Week list. And in an even greater coup, Vogue supremo Anna Wintour – who is not one of nature's huggers, to put it mildly – seemed to have the very warmest of feelings for the Duchess of Sussex when she met her at the fashion show, greeting her with a kiss.
To have the seemingly affectionate endorsement of Wintour, the most powerful woman in fashion, and to be physically embraced by Pierpaolo Piccioli, one of the industry's new kings at his first fashion show at Balenciaga, is a no-quibbles double-win in that sphere.
No doubt such a reception is all the sweeter for the Duchess, in the same week she was widely mocked for using jam-making tongs upside down on Instagram – yet another embarrassing blow to her credibility as a home-making influencer.
Indeed, for all her careful positioning as some sort of beige-cashmere clad Martha Stewart wannabe, the Duchess's lifestyle brand, As Ever, has still to land with any real impact with the public at large.
So does her Paris trip mean that the Duchess is set on developing a new direction within the vituperatively competitive world of couture?
As we shall see, this is a distinct possibility, despite the obvious incoherence in having a business brand based on a cosy domestic goddess image and being a high-end fashionista.
More disquietingly, though, sources close to the Duke and Duchess have indicated to me that Meghan's choice of the French capital for her latest 'relaunch' has caused them deep concern.
Certainly, their appearance on Thursday night in New York, where they were named 'Humanitarians of the Year' at the Project Healthy Minds gala will not have helped.
They arrived hand in hand, with Meghan in an Armani power suit. But although the former actress shot a number of soupy glances in her husband's direction, he looked largely furious, and his occasional smiles were tight little grimaces.
Granted, when on stage they were talking about their 'crusade' against online harm to children, but both looked utterly miserable.
Harry glared, lips pursed, Meghan looked uncomfortable at best.
What's not in any doubt is that Meghan is continuing to forge her own path, professionally.
To recap on her Paris trip, the Duchess showed up in the French capital on Saturday, striding through the assembled crowds in a voluminous white ensemble created for her by Italian designer Pierpaolo Piccioli.
After watching his debut for Balenciaga and documenting her visit for her 4.2million followers on Instagram, she was filmed on her way back from the Balenciaga after-show party.
The video started in the back of her chauffeur-driven limo travelling alongside the Seine by night, and showed the vehicle passing the Pont Alexandre III bridge. It then continued on towards the Pont de l'Alma bridge as Meghan lifted her feet, elegantly clad in Balenciaga's £745 'Knife' heels, on to the seat opposite her.
Extraordinarily, this was a parallel journey to that made by Harry's mother, Princess Diana, who died in the tunnel of the same Pont de l'Alma bridge, on her final night in August 1997.
Some have told me of their shock at the seeming tactlessness of using this route for the Duchess's publicity purposes.
Because Paris, to put it mildly, is not a neutral location for Harry.
One perfectly placed source says they are 'so astonished' at all this because both Meghan and Harry have turned down numerous invitations to attend events in Paris over recent years.
The reason given, I'm told, is always the same – that city's association with the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
A source told me there was always a hard line from him – a total, blanket 'No'. Harry, they said, would consistently make it clear that he would not go to Paris, because of his mother.
I'm told by the same source: 'Meghan would explain when asked: 'I cannot go to Paris because of H's mom.'
And yet suddenly here she is.
When it comes to Meghan, say a number of former friends, nothing happens by accident.
One friend of Harry's told me: 'She's driving around in that city where his mother died. She knows exactly what she is doing!'
Tags: Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Louis, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Meghan, Lilibet
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