Kate is the target of crude sexual insult in new Amazon spy drama starring Meghan Markle's friend Priyanka Chopra - days after Disney's new Little Mermaid movie 'aimed a dig at Princess'

A big budget thriller starring one of the Duchess of Sussex's best friends makes a crude and sexual jibe about the Princess of Wales. Citadel, which is being screened on streaming giant Amazon Prime, stars Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas who has repeatedly backed Meghan publicly. Ms Chopra Jonas, 41, plays the leading lady, an elite espionage agent Nadia Sinh in the five-part spy action series. And in the third episode, she is involved in a scene with a crime boss named Balduino Basto, portrayed by Sen Monro. Richard Madden's character Mason Kane goes to see Basto in Morocco under Nadia's instructions and she is speaking to him in his ear. Basto is then asked for help to break into the armed forces chief's office. It prompts him to say: 'The chief of armed forces? You might as well have asked me how to get between the legs of the Duchess of Cambridge!' It comes after it was last week claimed that the new live action remake of Disney movie The Little Mermaid, which is one of the Duchess of Sussex's favourites, contains a dig at her sister-in-law. A critic who saw an early screening of the film noted the apparent jibe against the Princess of Wales, in the script for the movie. The reviewer pointed to the scene where Ariel and Prince Eric meet, after she's given up her voice to get to the surface and he has to try to guess her name. He said: 'His first guess is Diana. His second guess is Catherine, but after [Ariel gives a disgusted] reaction, he [concludes] 'OK, definitely not Catherine.' 'Disney would be disingenuous to imply those name choices were coincidental.' Diana is of course the name of Prince Harry's late mother, who died in August 1997 following a car accident in Paris. And Catherine is the full name of his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, who is more commonly known as Kate. Ms Chopra Jonas and the Duchess of Sussex, 41, became friends when they met at an Elle magazine event in 2016 and soon after the Duchess of Sussex interviewed for her blog The Tig, which is no longer in existence. They were also seen at the theatre together on New York's Broadway where they were watching musical Hamilton shortly after. In July 2021, Ms Chopra Jonas appeared to 'ignore' Kate and her husband, Prince William, as they were clapped into the Royal Box at Wimbledon. In a clip which emerged at the time, the Bollywood actress opted to fiddle with her scarf as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took their seats to rapturous applause from the crowd ahead of the Women's Singles Final. Further photos showed her appearing to look away from the royal couple while standing on Centre Court balcony as they mingled with VIPs after the match. Several royal watchers suggested it was a snub after Meghan made remarks about Kate during her Oprah Winfrey interview. It was possible that Ms Chopra Jonas didn't see the couple enter the Royal Box, or that she wasn't aware of the etiquette to applaud, however several royal fans suggested her abstaining from clapping was intentional. In 2018, Ms Chopra Jonas wrote an open letter about her friend before the royal wedding in 2018, around the time Meghan made it onto the TIME 100 list. She said: 'More than anything else, Meghan is an important influencer in a world that needs strong public figures to respect and look up to. 'People the world can be inspired by. Meghan, standing shoulder to shoulder with Harry, will be a princess for the people.' The Bollywood actress, who boasts a three-year friendship with the Duchess, has insisted while Meghan has been heavily scrutinised due to her mixed heritage, her 'progressive, modern' friend can 'handle' the criticism. On Meghan, daughter of a black mother and white father, facing criticism from the media, the UNICEF Goodwill