Meghan Markle’s Friend Janina Gavankar Defends Christmas Photo

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Christmas card has sparked some buzz on social media, but it has sparked some controversy on the way it was shot and got slammed by the British media. The Duchess of Sussex’s close friend Janina Gavankar defended the photo in response to those criticisms.

Gavankar posted an original photo on social media. The photo shows both Markle and Prince Harry with their son Archie, who is front and center on the image. She commented on Twitter saying, “So proud to have taken the Christmas photo for one of my best friends and her family." She also added, “Here’s the original that was sent out (cropped to fit IG). ...and to The Mail, I see your campaign against my friend continues. Nice photoshop of my non-photoshopped image. Now may we all get back to the spirit of Christmas and not the spirit of maliciousness.”

The Christmas photo gained some attention when the Daily Mail put up an article questioning the authenticity of the picture, criticizing that it may have been photoshopped with the royal couple’s faces. Gavankar’s Instagram post may have been in response to that, stating that she took the picture and no manipulation was involved with the original photo. The Mail's photo differs from Gavankar's.

For the holidays, the couple is spending time in Canada as they take a vacation from their royal duties. Canada also is where Markle spent most of her years working on “Suits.” Gavankar, who is also an actress on "The Morning Show," has been a close friend of Markle’s and was present at the royal wedding in 2018.

The trip has been a break from royal tradition as they previously spent this time of year with the Queen. However, both Harry and Meghan have been avoiding the spotlight since taking legal action against the media for their misuse of information on her in the tabloids.