Vogue Editor Posts Instagram Shot That Draws Cries Of ‘Cruelty’ — But What Did It Show?

A Vogue Magazine editor has now apologized for an Instagram photo than many of her readers found offensive — perhaps not as much for what the photo showed, but because of the out of touch attitude of the editor who posted it.

That Vogue editor is 32-year-old Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, a socialite from a billionaire family who is, quite literally, a German princess. Her father is the late Prince Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, and her mother is Countess Gloria of Schönburg in Glauchau and Waldenburg. While the German monarcy was deposed following World War I, members of the German Royal Family continue to wield considerable influence.

The Thurn und Taxis dyansty remains one of the wealthiest families in Europe.

But Elisabeth, who was born Elisabeth Margaret Anna Maria Beatiriz Princess of Thurn und Taxis, but who now prefers her nickname “Princess TNT, The Dynamite Socialite,” has chosen to actually hold a job in addition to her jet-set lifestyle. Since 2012, she has been employed by Vogue as a style editor-at-large.

On Saturday, von Thurn und Taxis was in Paris, France, where she was on assignment for Vogue covering that city’s Fashion Week, when she posted an Instagram photo that shows what appears to be a homeless woman, living on the street.

But in the photo, the woman is reading — or at least holding — a copy of Vogue Magazine.

The self-described TNT captioned the photo, “Paris is full of surprises….and @voguemagazine readers even in unexpected corners!”

Here is the Instagram photo posted by “ElisabethTNT”.

The spectacle of a wealthy Princess apparently exploiting someone extremely less fortunate than herself for purposes of promoting a glossy fashion magazine quickly drew an angry response from von Thurn und Taxis’s Instagram followers, who slammed the photo as “cruel,” “in poor taste,” and “shameful.”

The popular fashion blog Fashionista, said that the Vogue columns penned by von Thurn und Taxis “often straddle the line between entertaining/aspirational and disturbingly out of touch.”

“On Saturday she crossed that line,” the blog said. “We shouldn’t have to explain why her decision to put this on Instagram, as a wealthy princess, was of questionable taste.”

The princess at first defended herself from the attacks, responding with a comment of her own, saying, “Why cruel? The person to me is as dignified as anyone else!”

But several hours later, the socialite Vogue editor deleted her Instagram post, and issued an apology “for the offense my post has caused.”