It should come as no surprise that someone as influential and inspiring as Meghan Markle would be asked to contribute as the guest editor to British Vogue’s September issue — their most popular annual issue.
The wildest thing? Not only is Markle the first EVER royal guest editor for the renowned issue, but she’s also the first-ever PERSON to touch the issue as a guest editor. That’s a huge and significant contribution — and such a win for both women everywhere as well as the modern monarchy.
As British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful said on Instagram, “For the past few months, the Duchess and I have been working together on this shared passion project: to dedicate British Vogue’s biggest issue of the year to all the remarkable women who are redefining our world for the better.” It hits newstands August 2.
Enninful chose Markle specifically and personally, as she has always been a symbol and advocate of progressive ideology, feminism, and sociocultural inclusivity. Things that the media (and the fashion industry) should embrace.
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The issue, titled Forces for Change, highlights “15 brilliant female changemakers who have had a laudable impact in recent times and who are set to reshape society in radical and positive ways in the future.” Yes!
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On the cover, there are 15 images plus one blank space which “will appear as a mirror on the printed cover and was included at the special request of the Duchess to show that you – that all of us, in fact – are part of this moment too,” Enniful described. We LOVE this.
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Meghan Markle herself will not appear on the cover.
Why not?
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“In the end, she felt that it would be in some ways a ‘boastful’ thing to do for this particular project,” Enniful described.
Instead, Markle included women she admired: Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, Jacinda Ardern, Yara Shahidi, Laverne Cox, and more. This is super classy and we approve!
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According to the Royal Sussex Instagram, there are TONS of goodies in the issue, including a conversation between the Duchess and former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, a conversation between the Duke of Sussex and Dr. Jane Goodall, articles by Brené Brown, Jameela Jamil, and many others.
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The photographer who shot the cover, Peter Lingbergh, was someone Markle had previously worked with — and trusted — for her Vanity Fair cover in 2017.
Markle even requested that Lingbergh keep everyone’s freckles intact. She wanted him to photograph the women realistically, with very little airbrushing.
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Fun fact: Markle hates when someone erases her freckles.
And we get it! She loves them — they’re part of who she is.
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The work that Markle did for the magazine shouldn’t be seen as left-field, though.
She had previously run her own very popular lifestyle blog, The Tig, where she profiled and interviewed women from all walks of life.
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Markle, before becoming a royal, was VERY outspoken on the political front, especially in her writing.
So, working on this issue must have felt very natural to her.
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Of course, all good things must be tainted, right?
For instance, people have been wondering why she didn’t include the Queen on the cover (wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest, in a way?), while Piers Morgan, the forever-troll, even said the cover was “shamelessly hypocritical super-woke Vogue stunt” because of course he did. But anyway.
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The real issue is that her cover happened to resemble another cover — also with several pictures of women on the front.
People are losing it over the resemblance, which, to us, just seems like a way to fit several pictures of several people onto a single cover.
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The cover that the Duchess of Sussex supposedly ‘copied’ is the cover of The Game Changers: Success Secrets from 40 Women at the Top by Samantha Brett and Steph Adams.
The connection? Markle actually helped to produce the book and is on the cover itself.
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The author Samantha Brett told the Daily Mail, “it’s obviously very flattering, she obviously likes our concept…I love Meghan and am a huge fan, but if what people are alerting us to is true, then it’s extremely disappointing.”
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And while there are certainly similarities in the covers, it doesn’t exactly seem that the cover concept is so specific as to not be replicated.
There are only so many ways to fit everyone’s image onto a magazine cover!
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We think that Markle’s success, influence, and voice makes some people uncomfortable. And when women are successful, people target them. Markle, though, has only ever shown grace and resilience — and we’re proud of her for that.
In the end, the British Vogue issue is one of great importance. Don’t let the cover debacle distract from the real story: that Markle is bringing women’s issues to the fore — in a time when it’s more necessary than ever.
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