Meghan Markle to edit UK Vogue before heading to Africa
The Queen has confirmed Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will step back from royal duties. Photo: Getty
Days after she broke her maternity leave to join the royal family for Trooping the Colour, Meghan Markle is going back to work again as guest editor of fashion bible British Vogue.
That’s according to multiple reports, which claim the Duchess of Sussex will use her expert media and PR skills as former chief of now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig to edit Vogue’s prestigious September issue.
Last year, the British glossy’s editor Edward Enninful recruited Rihanna as cover star, while in the US editor Anna Wintour handed over the reins to Beyonce.
This year, it’s apparently Meghan’s turn. She won’t lack for inspiration, with her best friend Jessica Mulroney’s credentials as a stylist and her growing bond with Givenchy’s Claire Waight Keller.
Once her editing duties are done, busy Meghan and husband Prince Harry are said to be contemplating an official royal visit to Africa, where they are reportedly also planning to spend the Windsor equivalent of a grown-up gap year in future.
Meghan’s involvement with Vogue is said to include her doing a photo shoot to show off her new home, Frogmore Cottage at Windsor.
The Sussexes moved from Kensington Palace to Frogmore shortly before the May 6 birth of son Archie.
Archie Mountbatten-Windsor makes his public debut at Windsor on May 8. Photo: Getty
They oversaw dramatic renovations to the property, including building a yoga studio and high-end kitchen.
But Harry, 34, and Archie won’t be part of the photo shoot, and Meghan, 37, has said she won’t appear as cover girl, according to The Sun.
What the former UN Women advocate will do is write a first-person op-ed piece for Vogue, discussing her passion projects.
She will recruit a “selection of female change-makers on board to write their own personal essays”, according to reports in The Mirror and The Sun.
Tennis star Serena Williams and actress Priyanka Chopra, both close Meghan pals, could be tapped to contribute.
A magazine source said: “Meghan is going to write a piece on causes such as female empowerment and women’s education.
“This is nothing to do with Archie, or family, or home life. It’s purely on women’s empowerment.”
Mr Enninful, who was named editor-in-chief of Vogue in April 2017, is said to have been “courting” Meghan directly since her engagement to Harry.
Meghan isn’t a trendsetter when it comes to being royal and dabbling in society or fashion magazines.
Her father-in-law, Prince Charles, guest-edited Country Life for a 2013 edition to commemorate his 65th birthday. He had another crack at the job in 2018 for his 70th birthday, showcasing three of his rural homes.
And in 2016, Kate Middleton drove herself – hair in curlers – to a country cover shoot for British Vogue as part of London’s National Portrait Gallery exhibition for the magazine’s centenary edition.
The duchess, 37, “had never taken part in a photography shoot like this before”, a Kensington Palace spokesperson said at the time.
In May 2017, Kate and husband Prince William, 36, and children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, now five and three, were snapped for a GQ magazine interview William did to promote mental health issues.
As for the Sussexes’ African plans, ITV reports they’re planning a diplomatic trip to Angola, Malawi and South Africa.
Harry co-founded his HIV and AIDS charity Sentebale in Malawi in 2006 with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso.
With Meghan, he will reportedly carry on his late mother Princess Diana’s work with removing active landmines in Angola.
