Meghan Markle Will Be Guest Editor Of ‘Vogue,’ But The Royal Family Is Expected To Pay Careful Attention
Meghan Markle will purportedly be guest editor-in-chief for the September issue of Vogue, but she should expect the Royal Family and its handlers to “look over,” to put it mildly, what she writes, or allows to be written, in the magazine.
As Cosmopolitan reported last week, rumors are circulating that the Duchess of Sussex will be ceremonially (or literally) taking over the duties of editor-in-chief for the British edition of the popular magazine for the upcoming September issue. Her job will include writing a guest column of her own, as well as assigning writers to come up with stories about topics that are near and dear to her. Specifically, she’s expected to compile articles from “female change-makers” writing about issues important to women — so expect the writers to be mostly, or exclusively, women.
Her temporary gig will also purportedly include a photo shoot at her new home, Frogmore Cottage.
On The One Hand…
This type of thing is right up Meghan’s alley. For starters, there’s the fact that she has always been a feminist, even going back to when she was a little girl. For example, as the age of 12, according to Inside Edition, she convinced Proctor & Gamble to change a “sexist” commercial about women doing dishes — this was when she was just a random girl from L.A. and not anyone with name recognition. In other words, it makes perfect sense for Meghan to be in charge, however ceremonially, of a magazine issue devoted to women’s causes.
Meghan Markle 'is very different to Princess Diana' in one obviously crucial wayhttps://t.co/IQNFlwd8wB pic.twitter.com/3rFPPQxZEw
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) June 15, 2019
The Duchess also has a penchant for writing. Prior to marrying Prince Harry, she maintained a personal blog, where she wrote about things like recipes and lifestyle, among other topics.
But On The Other Hand…
Having a Royal in charge of a publication, however obliquely, could create major headaches for the Royal Family.
Royals are expected to advocate for causes that are important to them. Indeed, the number of patronages — that is, causes which members of the Royal Family support and of which the family members are unofficial spokespeople — among the various members of the family is in the thousands.
However, members of the Royal Family are absolutely forbidden from advocating for political causes or otherwise injecting themselves into politics.
What’s more, Meghan has been largely silenced by the Royal Family. She’s had to shut down her blog, as well as her personal social media accounts, in favor of letting the Royal Family speak for her.
For these reasons and others, the family is expected to keep an eye on what she says and does during her gig as guest editor for Vogue, as reported by the Daily Express. Royal expert Robert Jobson says that her work will be “looked over,” but he doubts that the family or its handlers will try to exercise editorial control over what she writes, or assigns.
“I think that it will be looked over, but I don’t think it will have to be approved. Prince Harry and her will be discussing it and I am sure that her PR people will be involved as well,” he says.
It bears noting, however, that as of this writing, there’s been no official confirmation that Meghan will be editing the September issue of Vogue, or indeed, any issue of any magazine. So far, there are only rumors.
