An Irish Politician Said Meghan Markle Was ‘Pleased’ the Country Legalized Abortion

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are visiting Ireland this week as part of their first official overseas visit as a married couple. But after she met one politician at a reception, some reports claim she may have allegedly breached royal protocol by expressing a political opinion.

An Irish politician tweeted she had discussed the country’s referendum to repeal a ban on abortion—but quickly backtracked, saying she never intended to insinuate that Meghan was getting political. In fact, members of the royal family are typically prohibited from making political statements, and tend to stay far away from controversial issues.

The Irish Times reports that Senator Catherine Noone tweeted about having a conversation with Meghan while visiting the British ambassador’s residence in Dublin Tuesday. “The Duchess and I had a chat about the recent referendum result—she watched with interest and was pleased to see the result,” Noone wrote.

But she quickly followed up with a separate tweet clarifying what she meant, because royals are not allowed to take political stances. “I should say she seemed pleased—she was interested and very measured, not political at all,” she wrote.

Noone has deleted both those tweets, and has since replied to several Twitter users, insisting Meghan did not breach protocol. “I deleted [the tweet] because it was unintentionally misleading–the Duchess was not in any way political,” she told the Irish Independent.

Writer Una Mullally tweeted about meeting Meghan and talking about the vote, and “the importance of her feminist activism.” That tweet has not been deleted as of Wednesday. On Meghan’s official royal family web page, she is quoted as saying, “I am proud to be a woman and a feminist.”