When Meghan Markle officially became the Duchess of Sussex she was an immediate hit with royal fans but she has opened up since moving to California about the aspects of royal life to which she found it challenging to adapt. After a long and successful career as an actress and philanthropist, Meghan had never been afraid of using her voice and taking a stand on issues that were important to her.
However, as a working member of the Royal Family, she was suddenly subject to a set of formalities and rules that would have likely been at odds with many of her instincts. When a major opportunity came her way a year after her marriage to Prince Harry, there was a well-trodden path available to her that both Princess Diana and Princess Kate had made a success of, but the Duchess of Sussex decided to do things her own way instead.
The opportunity in question was the record-breaking issue of British Vogue that Meghan guest-edited in September 2019, alongside the editor-in-chief at the time Edward Enninful. The ‘Forces for Change’ issue featured a range of “cast of brilliant female changemakers who are set to re-shape society in radical and positive ways.” A royal expert – Robert Lacey, author and historian – noted in the Daily Mail that Meghan’s decision to guest-edit the issue rather than simply feature on the cover was a deviation from what her late mother-in-law Princess Diana and sister-in-law Kate chose to do.
“There was the issue of Vogue that Meghan guest-edited. Unlike Kate and Diana before her, she declined to feature on the cover. Her concept was instead to display with the headline Forces for Change, a gallery of the women activists she admired, from Jane Fonda to Greta Thunberg, with 13 other Left-wing, multiracial campaigning women — a move which left many with serious constitutional concerns about the monarchy weighing into politics.”
Princess Diana appeared on the cover of three issues of Vogue during her life, and post-humously a further issue was dedicated to her after her untimely death – and Kate appeared on the cover of Vogue back in 2016. The concerns from some quarters about Meghan’s guest-edited issue came because of the monarchy’s obligation to remain politically neutral and instead focus their efforts predominantly on charitable causes that are important to them. The ‘Forces for Change’ issue was the fastest-selling issue of the iconic fashion magazine of all time, and not only that but it was also the bestselling issue of the last decade.
