Meghan Markle’s excitement to be on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine turned to hysteria and anger after the magazine focused on her relationship with Prince Harry rather than her acting and philanthropy, according to a new book on the royal couple.
In “Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors,” British journalist Tom Bower said Meghan was “ecstatic” when the magazine agreed to write a story about her and featured her on the cover of its September 2017 issue.
But when the magazine used the headline “She’s Just Wild About Harry” and didn’t focus on her work as an activist and philanthropist, Buckingham Palace refused — and Meghan was furious with her American public relations firm, Sunshine Sachs, according to excerpts from the book. published by The Times of London Saturday.
According to Bower, Meghan had received strict orders from Harry’s public relations team to avoid sensitive topics, including Donald Trump, race and her relationship with the prince.
Meghan had convinced Harry that the article would focus on celebrating the 100th episode of “Suits,” the TV show the actress was filming in Toronto where the interview was being held.
Sunshine Sachs had demanded that the magazine comply with Meghan’s demand that she be presented as a philanthropist and activist, disregarding one problem: Vanity Fair’s meticulous investigators could find no evidence of her global philanthropy and activism. Bower writes.
But when Sam Kashner, the contributing editor of Vanity Fair, confessed that he’d never heard of Meghan or “Suits,” asked Meghan about her relationship with Harry, she replied, “We’re a couple. We are in love.”
“I’m sure there will come a time when we have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope people will understand that this is our time.” Markle said in the article.
The interview was “like a thunderclap,” Bower writes. The interview sparked sensational reactions: Meghan had used her relationship with Harry to promote herself. The Hollywoodization of the royal family had sealed Meghan’s fate as Harry’s betrothed.”