The Fine Gael Senator who chaired the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment has deleted a tweet that said the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was pleased by the result of Ireland’s abortion referendum.
After meeting the duchess at the British ambassador’s residence in Dublin on Tuesday, Senator Catherine Noone tweeted: “The Duchess and I had a chat about the recent referendum result — she watched with interest and was pleased to see the result.”
However, she followed up with a second tweet that clarified: “I should say she seemed pleased — she was interested and very measured, not political at all.”
A pleasure to meet Prince Harry & the Duchess of Sussex at the British Ambassador's Residence this evening.
— Sen Catherine Noone (@senatornoone) July 10, 2018
The Duchess & I had a chat about the recent referendum result - she watched with interest & was pleased to see the result.#harryandmeghan #royalcouple #meghanmarkle pic.twitter.com/dtO7IxlOYx
*I should say she seemed pleased - she was interested and very measured, not political at all.
— Sen Catherine Noone (@senatornoone) July 10, 2018
The second tweet was also later deleted and a post shortly after 10.30pm accompanied by a photo just said: “A pleasure to meet Prince Harry & the Duchess of Sussex at the British Ambassador’s Residence this evening. #harryandmeghan #royalcouple #meghanmarkle.”
Ms Noone said she had deleted her original message as it “was misleading”.
“The Duchess was interested and charming and was not in any way political.”
She tweeted: “They were both just lovely, gave everyone time, completely appropriate and charming.”
As a member of the royal family, the Duchess of Sussex is prohibited from speaking publicly about politics.
Ms Noone is due to run for Fine Gael in the next general election in the constituency of Dublin Bay North.
She had a strong public profile as chairwoman of the Oireachtas committee that recommended a referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment, which prohibited abortion.
