Meghan Markle travels in ‘over-the-top’ and ‘completely irregular’ ‘4 automotive motorcade’ as she attends Broadway play and gushes over assembly forged backstage

Meghan Markle has been criticised after using a four car motorcade while attending a broadway show on Thursday night.

According to Page Six, the mother-of-two was taken to watch Gypsy in three SUVs and an unmarked police car.

The outlet reports that the 43-year-old travelled in one of the SUVs. The other two were empty apart from drivers.

Meanwhile, it claims, she hired former Secret Service agents to be part of her private security team. Two intel detectives rode in the unmarked police car, which it says belonged to the NY Police Department.

Her security measures were criticised by a paparazzi source, reports Page Six, which says they described her efforts as ‘absolutely abnormal, totally over-the-top and excessive’. 

The source was reported as saying that Taylor Swift generally has two cars – one for her and one for her security team, and that they don’t travel together, rather her security team will arrive wherever she is going ahead of her.

In addition, they noted that A-listers including Beyonce and Kim Kardashian generally travel with a single car (unless they need two if they are travelling with family), and do not use police escorts. 

The source said: ‘Meghan is out of control and over-the-top, and it’s ridiculous if the city is paying for this. And if NYPD was not on duty, then they shouldn’t be allowed to run lights. Somebody’s got to be paying for it.’

However, the outlet noted that celebrities can ask NYPD for its services if they want protection. 

Meghan, who was not accompanied by her husband Prince Harry, who was visiting Ukraine at the time, went for dinner at Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar before watching  Gypsy at the Majestic Theatre.

The former Suits actor donned a $1,390 Houndstooth Linen-Blend Maxi Skirt by designer Carolina Herrera with a $448 silk button down by Veronica Beard TK for the outing. She tied the look together with a pair of black suede pumps by Aquazzura for $609.

After watching the show, which has been running since November 2024, she met some members of the cast.

Celebrating the occasion with a post on Instagram, in which she shared a series of photos, Meghan gushed about meeting actress Audra McDonald.

The first snap featured Audra, who plays the lead as Momma Rose – the protagonist who tries to make her two daughters into Vaudeville stars.

Meghan shared a black-and-white photo of herself embracing the stage actress as she gazed directly into her eyes, with dozens of other cast members gathered behind them.

The Duchess also shared pictures of her with the rest of the cast and crew, including a video of the moment when she met Audra.

She captioned the post: ‘If you get a chance to see @gypsybway, you absolutely must. Congratulations to the tremendously talented cast and crew for creating magic on that stage,’ Meghan wrote in the caption of the photo carousel.

‘And meeting @audramcdonald for the first time last night…’ she continued, including a smiley-face emoji with tears in its eyes.

‘Her performance will leave you absolutely speechless. Full body chills. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house, and if the theater didn’t have to close for the night, the standing ovation would still be happening,’ Meghan’s message concluded.

Her night out on Thursday came at a busy time for Meghan, amid the launch of her lifestyle brand, As Ever, and new podcast with Lemonada Media, Confessions of a Female Founder.

The new product range, which included her infamous raspberry spread as well as flower sprinkles and pancake mix, sold out in just under an hour.

And, the most expensive item, the wildflower honey with honeycomb, was out of stock in five minutes.

However, many didn’t seem to be a big fan of the launch, with DailyMail.com columnist Maureen Callahan ripping it as ‘snobby, salty, [and] superficially sweet.’

‘Meghan’s crepe mix, meanwhile, resulted in a flavor and mouthfeel most akin to undercooked pancakes,’ Callahan wrote this week.

‘It was bland, as was the shortbread cookie mix ($14), which yielded cookies that tasted both a little too sweet and a little too salty, but ultimately lacked any distinctive punch,’ she continued.

‘Same with the edible ‘Flower Sprinkles’ ($15), which looked like colored lint you’d pick out off your sweater and felt rough on the tongue and teeth — almost like roasted hay.’

FEMAIL also put all eight of Meghan’s products to the test – but found none of them to be worth the wait.

In particular, DailyMail.com issued a scathing review of Meghan’s hyped-up jam, where it crumbled, or rather dripped, under the pressure of a taste test.

The confection, which Meghan has cheesily described as ‘her jam’ many times, has had much hype surrounding the launch, as she sent 50 jars last year to famous friends such as Kris Jenner under the company’s former name, American Riviera Orchard. 

But her brand has now been rebranded to As Ever, and the company claims that the raspberry fruit spread ‘is inspired by the recipe Meghan crafted in her home kitchen’.

The Duchess previously explained in an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, that her preserves can’t technically be called jam, because ‘jam is equal parts sugar and fruit.’

‘I just don’t think you can taste the fruit that way,’ she suggested on the show.

Per Food & Wine, jam is regulated by the FDA, and it must come from a single fruit, containing at least 45 percent fruit and 55 percent sugar.

They wrote that the jam was ‘extremely sweet’ and was more reminiscent of a sugary dessert sauce.

The flavour was also surprisingly strong, which meant the taste testers could taste the sour lemon in the spread, which Meghan had promised in the product’s description.

They added that it was difficult to eat the spread with toast, as it was so thin that it dribbled everywhere and made a mess, making toast soggy.

In addition, the spread is so sweet that it masked the flavours from the sourdough, with only the sugar from the fruit and tang of the lemon coming through.