When aspiring actress Meghan Markle had the chance to land a major interview with Vanity Fair magazine, they were all set in advance. She would be careful.
Meghan would stay away from such controversial issues as racial politics, Donald Trump – or her budding relationship with Prince Harry…
So a cover story with the headline “She’s just crazy about Harry!” was definitely not on schedule.
Just hours after the magazine’s advance copies were distributed, Meghan called her PR firm to tell her “hysterically” about the palace’s dismay, according to author Tom Bower.
The cover of the September 2017 issue of Vanity Fair, featuring Meghan Markle and the headline “Wild About Harry!”
Prince Harry and Meghan during an official photocall to announce their engagement at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York this year
Bower, the author of Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, said Meghan was “ecstatic” when she was first asked to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair’s September 2017 issue.
But that was back then…
According to Bower, the interview was intended to focus on Meghan’s philanthropy and celebrating the 100th episode of her legal soap opera “Suits.”
But when asked about her relationship with Harry, Meghan replied: “We’re a couple. We’re in love.”
The interview was conducted at Meghan’s home by Sam Kashner – a longtime editor at Vanity Fair who admitted before the interview that he had no idea who Meghan was.
As reported by Vanity Fair in 2017, Meghan said, “I’m sure there’s going to be a time when we need to step out and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope people will understand that our time is.” .
“This is for us.” Part of what makes it so special is that it’s just ours. But we are happy. Personally, I love a great love story.’
Advance copies of the September 2017 issue of Vanity Fair were distributed to Megan’s PR agency and Buckingham Palace.
“Her unexpected openness to Harry surprised the palace,” Bower wrote.
“Like a thunderbolt, the interview triggered sensational reactions: Meghan had used her relationship with Harry to promote herself,” he said.
Meghan later claimed that she knew little about the British royal family prior to meeting Prince Harry, such as “never looked up her husband online”.
Others have questioned this apparent naivety, including former childhood friend Ninaki Priddy.
Shortly before Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding in 2018, Priddy told the Chron: “[Meghan] has always been fascinated by the royal family. She wants to be Princess Diana 2.0.
A picture had previously surfaced of a 15-year-old Meghan posing with her friend Ninaki outside Buckingham Palace during a European trip in 1996.
Others have apparently questioned this, including former childhood friend Ninaki Priddy.
15-year-old Meghan Markle poses with her childhood friend Ninaki Priddy in front of Buckingham Palace in 1996
In the trailer for her Netflix documentary “Harry and Meghan,” a young teenage Meghan is shown
In 2018, Ninaki, whose friendship with Meghan ended before the duchess began dating Prince Harry, said: “I know that the royal family was something that fascinated her.”
“She had one of Princess Diana’s books.” [Diana: Her True Story] on her bookshelf, and even when she was with Trevor she told me that she wanted to stay in London for at least a month.
“I wasn’t shocked or surprised to hear about Prince Harry.” I know she used to love The Princess Diaries – movies about a commoner who becomes part of a royal family. She was very fond of this idea.’