Wild twist in Meghan Markle's 'awkward' air kiss with Balenciaga designer

Meghan Markle was the picture of elegance as she stepped out at Paris Fashion Week this weekend, stunning fans with her surprise trip to the French capital.

It's the first time the duchesshas been in Europe for three years but the visit appears to be a solo one, with Prince Harry nowhere to be seen.

Meghan dazzled in a chic all-white ensembleat Saturday night's Balenciaga's Spring/Summer 2026 womenswear presentation, making her debut at one of the fashion world's biggest annual events.

The former actress also reunited with formidable fashion queen Anna Wintour at last night's show and was all smiles as the Vogue chief complimented her outfit.

READ MORE: Meghan Markle suffers awkward encounter with a designer during Paris Fashion Week

READ MORE: Meghan Markle completely steals the show at Paris Fashion Week in jaw-dropping outfit

One encounter was a little more awkward however, as a harmless air kiss with Italian designer Pier Paolo Piccioli went wrong when Meghan accidentally hit her head on his sunglasses.

The duchess made a beeline for Balenciaga's newly appointed creative director, having 'long admired' his 'craftsmanship' and 'modern elegance'.

But as Meghan leaned in to greet Pier and congratulate him on his new collection, she seemed to hit her nose on his dark sunglasses.

Aware that the cameras had captured their awkward embrace, Pier appeared to laugh off the disjointed encounter and pulled her in for a photo. Meghan was all smiles as she handled it smoothly.

And now an expert has revealed how the awkward clash went down, and says it was actually Piccioli who caused Meghan to accidentally butt heads with him.

Judi James, a leading communication and body language expert, tells The Mirror: "It was Piccioli who created the 'cringe' moment for poor Meghan, getting way too close to greet and speak to her, leading to a lack of reading her non-verbal cues when they air-kissed, leading in turn to a nose-clunk when they each aimed in the wrong direction."

"He also kept his shades on, which wouldn't have helped, and tried to take control of Meghan by turning her to face the cameras. She swiftly regained control herself, putting her arm out to steer him," she added.

Analysing the footage of their encounter, Judi continued: "When the photos were over though Piccioli moved in for a close-quarters hug with Meghan, whose immaculate white outfit that was so carefully arranged should have warded off any form of grabbing and squeezing."

And according to the body language guru, Meghan's greeting with Wintour was "much more like a top-drawer fashionista ritual".

"Meghan's rounded cheeks and her small gasp of fond recognition should have laid any rumors of a spat between the two women to bed for the foreseeable future, although everyone in the business knows that a fashionista air-kiss ritual will be used on friend or foe alike," Judi explained.

"Like the word 'darling' it means not one jot in terms of genuine affection or even liking in the fashion business. But at least they both looked keen to announce a friendship to the world here."

Judi's expert insight references a long-reported reports feud between the pair, after alleged drama behind the scenes at Vogue over Meghan's "demands".

The duchess took on the role of guest editor for an issue of British Vogue in 2019, and it flew off the shelves in a mere 10 days, making it the fastest-selling issue in the history of the renowned fashion magazine.

The Forces for Change issue reportedly saw Meghan dedicating seven months to work closely with ex Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, creating an issue that celebrated inspiring, pioneering women.

However, Meghan's "demands" to the Vogue editorial team allegedly led to a rift between the duchess and Enninful - with claims that Meghan even approached Wintour with her requests after being told by Enniful that they simply couldn't be met at that time.

Meghan had been offered "extensive features across the magazine and its digital editions", which would have included coverage of her speech at the One World Summit in Manchester.

But Page Six reports that Meghan sent Enninful a list of six conditions in order to go ahead with the planned articles. "Meghan asked for control over [the] photographer, writer, final edit, photos, cover lines, and wanted a global issue," a source told to the outlet. "Nobody gets that. Not even Beyoncé."

Meghan is said to have asked to feature on the covers of the September issues both the US and UK, but Vogue editors on both sides of the pond had already secured cover stars, making it impossible to grant her wish.

Serena Williams, Meghan's close pal, was set to grace the US cover, while supermodel Linda Evangelista was lined up for the UK edition.

Despite Enninful reportedly telling Meghan that her six demands couldn't be accommodated, the duchess is said to have bypassed him entirely by approaching formidable Wintour - the inspiration behind the legendary film The Devil Wears Prada - in a bid to secure dual covers across both the US and UK.

"Anna wasn't interested," a source toldPage Six. "Meghan asked for a Zoom with her to reconsider, and Anna did it to be polite."

When Enninful refused the duchess's requests, it allegedly caused a rift between the pair, though sources have conflicting reports on the extent of the falling out.

Meghan is said to have pulled the plug on the entire feature that was planned after her demands were not met by either Enninful or Wintour, which left Enninful "furious".

The Daily Mail quotes a source as saying: "The duchess and her team had high expectations and were expecting she might get a print cover or at least a digital cover out of it, but Enninful was not able to meet those expectations.

"He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month. Edward was furious to have lost the project, as were the powers that be at Condé Nast."

The source added: "The whole process became very difficult. Edward could only promise her a big showy feature inside the magazine and online — but she turned it down."

They also said that the incident has caused a major rift between the duchess and her former friend, with her and the former British Vogue chief no longer on speaking terms.

However, sources speaking to Page Six dispute this, saying that the pair still have something of a "warm and respectful" friendship, despite the conflict over how extensive the coverage of Meghan could be back in 2022 - and the pair are even said to still exchange birthday messages and send each other flowers on occasion.