Someone from Plymouth tried to sell a fake Meghan Markle signed banana

Someone from Plymouth has tried to sell a banana on eBay, claiming that the inspirational message was written by Meghan Markle.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Bristol on February 1, where Meghan chose to scrawl handwritten notes such as "be strong" and "you are loved" on bananas.

The former actress wrote the empowering notes on the fruit as it was being sent to sex workers in a food parcel - and now people are trying to flog fakes online.

The listing, which has since been removed, was titled as "Meghan Markle Inspirational Banana, rare, royal collectible", and was priced at 99p with one bid.

Postage was marked as £2.95 via second class by Royal Mail.

The seller, who is from Plymouth, added that the banana was "currently fresh but may have ripened by the time it is received".

It is not known if the seller or eBay removed the listing.

Whilst the seller suggested the banana was the real deal, there are multiple things that don't add up.

The handwriting is noticeably different to that of those signed by Meghan herself, and Plymouth is 120 miles away from the location where she signed them.

Another reason is that the former actress signed the bananas just under two weeks ago, meaning that it is very likely that it would be brown and mouldy.

Meghan made headlines after scrawling the heartfelt notes onto the fruit as one sex worker branded the move "offensive".

The royal made the impromptu choice to write the kind messages when meeting a former prostitute at a charity helping sex workers get off the streets.

She and Prince Harry learnt that One25 takes them food, condoms, advice and even blankets and hot water bottles, reports The Mirror.

As they were shown the food bags being prepared in the programme’s kitchen, the Duchess suddenly said: “Oh actually do you have a Sharpie marker? I have an idea.

“I saw this project this woman had started somewhere in the States on a school lunch programme.

“On each of the bananas she wrote an affirmation, to make the kids feel really, like, empowered. It was the most incredible idea – this small gesture.”

Armed with a marker, and with the words “I am in charge of the banana messaging!” she wrote a series of messages on the bananas destined for the food bags sent out on the outreach van including “You are special”.

However, a sex worker told The Sun that the idea was "really stupid".

She added: “People out here struggle to eat and sleep and she gifts us some words on a piece of fruit.

“She has the means to help us more than that. It’s offensive, you know.”

But another homeless sex worker, who did not want to be name, said the idea was "really sweet".

She said: “It’s so cold right now, it’s a struggle to raise money to get a bed for the night, so any food and bedding is a big help.

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