Meghan Markle has had a difficult week, with claims about her ‘outrageous’ Vogue demands and a take down from a commentator who urged the Duchess of Sussex to ‘give us the tea’
Meghan Markle has found herself hitting headlines this week – and for all the wrong reasons.
First, the Duchess of Sussex was rocked when an alleged list of outrageous demands – which lost her the chance to appear on the front cover of fashion bible Vogue – was leaked. According to claims, Meghan piled so much pressure on the then-editor of Vogue UK Edward Enninful ahead of a potential appearance in the UK Vogue September 2022 issue that the pair fell out.
Meghan, 43, had been working with Edward on a collaboration for the prestigious fashion issue that would include her keynote appearance at the One Young World Summit in Manchester, along with “involved extensive features across the magazine and its digital editions”.
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But the duchess, nicknamed ‘Duchess Difficult’ by her US staff, allegedly demanded to have the global cover of Vogue – appearing on the front covers of both the US and UK versions at the same time – and even appealed to Anna Wintour in a bid to persuade her.
She then badgered Enninful with a list of six demands, a source tells Page Six.
“Meghan asked for control over [the] photographer, writer, final edit, photos, cover lines, and wanted a global issue,” they revealed. “Nobody gets that. Not even Beyoncé.”
But Enninful already had supermodel Linda Evangelista booked for the September 2022 cover, and is said to have been unwavering in his decision to keep her.
His stance reportedly led to Meghan pulling the plug on their scheduled feature and sparked their falling out, the outlet claims.
She is then said to have demanded a call with US Vogue editor Anna and in a scheduled Zoom call, attempted to persuade Anna to listen to her ideas.
But Anna had already signed up Serena Williams – one of Meghan’s closest A-list friends, who was at her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry – to be US Vogue’s cover star for that issue, and apparently politely declined Meghan’s offer.
“Anna wasn’t interested,” the source added. “Meghan asked for a Zoom with her to reconsider, and Anna did it to be polite.”
According to the Daily Mail, Enninful was “furious” when Meghan pulled the plug after learning she would not be on the front page of British Vogue.
“The duchess and her team had high expectations and were expecting she might get a print cover or at least a digital cover out of it, but Enninful was not able to meet those expectations,” said an insider.
“He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month. Edward was furious to have lost the project, as were the powers that be at Condé Nast.”
The source added: “The whole process became very difficult. Edward could only promise her a big showy feature inside the magazine and online — but she turned it down.”
Elsewhere, journalist and commentator Esther Krakue hit out at the mum of two, harshly suggesting that Meghan should lean into her status as a “hot” woman who married a prince, rather than trying to frame herself as a thought leader with a “particularly niche view of the world.”
Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Krakue commented on Meghan’s recent appearance on The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, in which the Duchess of Sussex admitted she wouldn’t know what to put on a resume.
“She’s also never had to write a resume, let’s be honest,” Krakue said bluntly.
Krakue went on to critique Meghan’s attempts to champion complex social issues. “The lens through which she views the world is very peculiar,” she said. “She’s trying to position herself as a champion of women, but she shoehorns a very narrow, niche perspective into issues that are far more nuanced.”
Krakue’s main point was that Meghan, given her fame and wealth, doesn’t need to complicate her public persona. “You’re hot. You married a prince. Give us the tea. That’s all we need from her,” she said.
Referencing Meghan’s recent projects – including her podcast Archetypes and her Netflix series With Love – Krakue suggested that many of the duchess’s ventures have not been especially well-received. And that her millions mean that her business offerings are ‘low risk’.
However, she made clear that her criticisms weren’t rooted in personal animosity, adding that she wishes her ‘every success’.
Still, Krakue concluded that Meghan may be trying too hard to project an image that doesn’t quite align with her reality. “She’s not a chemist. She’s not a physicist. And that’s fine,” she said. “Sometimes it’s OK to just be pretty and to have good fortune in life – and to ride that wave.”
Meghan also this week gave an update on her sold-out As Ever products, hinting that they might not be restocked straight away.
When the Duchess of Sussex launched her products, including her jam, honey and flower sprinkles earlier this year as part of her As Ever range, they sold out in just over 30 minutes.
Since then those who were unable to get their hands on the items have been patiently waiting for the As Ever website to be restocked. However, in a new interview, Meghan told of how instead of simply restocking, she wants to “take a step back, gather data and figure out what As Ever could be.”
Speaking to Fast Company, she revealed that new products were expected in the first quarter of next year. And teasing what they could be, she explained: “I want to really focus on the hospitality angle of As Ever, but as we take the learnings, we can understand what the customer’s needs are seasonally.”
A trademark application for As Ever showed that her brand may one day intend to sell the likes of cookbooks, tableware and cutlery. But she added that fashion is also something she wants to dabble in too. She added: “The category of fashion is something I will explore at a later date because I do think that’s an interesting space for me.”
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