Meghan Markle Montecito Farmer’s Market Photos Happened by Chance, Photographer Says They Were There Trying to Get Snaps of Someone Else
A paparazzi photographer says they didn’t set out to get photos of Meghan Markle at the Montecito Farmer’s Market. When they spotted the Duchess of Sussex shopping near her and Prince Harry’s California home, they were actually hoping to get photos of someone else.
Photos of Katy Perry’s dad were the goal when a photographer came across Meghan Markle at the Montecito Farmer’s Market
Photographer Jill Ishkanian recounted how she came across the mother of two by chance on July 14, 2023. At the Montecito Farmer’s Market, hoping to get a photo of Katy Perry’s father, Ishkanian, who grew up in the coastal town where she still visits her mother, spotted Meghan near the “Roar” singer’s dad.
“I saw a pink and white striped golf cart with Katy Perry’s dad holding flowers [and] standing next to it talking to someone,” she told Newsweek. “I said, ‘Oh my God, here’s my chance to get Katy Perry’s dad.’”
“So I flipped the car around,” Ishkanian continued. “I was trying to cross to go into a parking area. And this big guy in a blue shirt was in front of my car, and then he backed away. Then he flipped his hand and said go ahead.”
The “big guy” turned out to be Meghan’s bodyguard. “I come up, and I see Katy Perry’s dad,” the photographer said. “And I look and there’s a woman who looks like Meghan Markle standing next to him.”
Ishkanian’s photos of Meghan from the market is another in a recent stream of paparazzi snaps featuring the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since their May 2023 “near-catastrophic car chase” in New York.
As for whether or not Meghan tips off photographers,”She absolutely does not,” Ishkanian said. “No one calls me, trust me. I have absolutely no support, I do everything by myself. It’s a total pain in the butt when you get their picture to be totally honest.”
The photographer used their phone to take Meghan’s photo in Montecito
Although paparazzi are often known for sporting long-lens cameras, Ishkanian shared that she used her phone to take snaps of Meghan.
“I start taking pictures, and here comes the blue shirt guy, big guy, and I realise [sic] that’s her bodyguard and absolutely that’s her,” she said.
Meghan, Ishkanian explained, wasn’t likely to make her out as a paparazzi photographer simply because she snapped photos using her phone.
“On the first pictures I took of her, she smiled at me and she thought, ‘She’s a woman,’” the photographer said. “Everyone talks about equal rights and I’ll tell you what. I have even more power as a woman than a male paparazzi because they don’t think I’m anything. So I picked up my iPhone.”
“I knew if I picked up a big camera, she’s trouble,” Ishkanian added.
Meanwhile, the photographer’s description of how they got photos of Meghan at the Montecito Farmer’s Market, aligns with what Harry and Meghan’s team told the outlet, that they didn’t work with Ishkanian.
The photographer previously snapped photos of Meghan wearing a ‘disguise’
Ishkanian continued, saying on occasion she’s found herself having to prove to picture editors her images of Meghan are, in fact, of the royal. Recalling December 2021 photos she took of Meghan wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a hat, the photographer explained how the 41-year-old’s shoes played a role.
“When someone is in disguise, it’s really hard, and yet people said that those were set-up pictures,” Ishkanian said. “They were absolutely not set up pictures. The reason that I knew everything she was wearing is I went back and looked at other pictures where she had worn those boots before. I had to prove to the picture editor that it was her.”
