Meghan Markle faces backlash over editing British Vogue's September issue

It was Meghan Markle's decision to profile inspirational women on the cover as she highlighted issues of gender inequality and expressed her outspoken feminist views.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex (Photo | AP)
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex (Photo | AP)

WASHINGTON DC: The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, who recently collaborated with British Vogue to unveil the September issue of the magazine, is still facing criticism.

There were several users on Twitter who wanted to know why Meghan had not included Queen Elizabeth II among her list of ladies (the magazine cover includes 15 brilliant female changemakers), or even a doctor or nurse, a teacher, lawyer.

Others wondered why the Duchess had skipped out on meeting US President Donald Trump during his recent state visit, citing her maternity leave as the reason for her absence.

ALSO READ: Meghan Markle guest edits British Vogue's September issue

Piers Morgan, who is known for hot take on the Duchess, slammed her and called her "shamelessly hypocritical for her super-woke Vogue stunt" in a scathing op-ed for the Daily Mail and as cited by E-News, lashing out at her "greatest hits of virtue-signalling" while she excluded the entire male population from the cover and promoted Brand Meghan rather than promoting Brand Britain.

The magazine, in the latest edition, previewed fashion for the upcoming fall/winter season.

This is the first time that a member of the British Royal family guest-edited the esteemed fashion book, and also anyone had been brought aboard to guest-edit the pivotal issue.

And it is absolutely true that Meghan did her job in a great manner. She took the opportunity to shift the magazine's usual fashion-forward focus to something a bit deeper and titled the issue as "Forces for Change," placing women who had a laudable impact in recent times and who are set to reshape society in radical and positive ways in the future.

The Duchess even turned down the opportunity to appear on the cover herself--"In the end, she felt that it would be in some ways a 'boastful' thing to do for this particular project," Edward Enninful, British Vogue's Editor-in-Chief, said--she, instead, put the spotlight on "the women she admires," including Yara Shahidi, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and climate change campaigner and student Greta Thunberg, among many others.

It was Meghan's decision to profile inspirational women on the cover as she highlighted issues of gender inequality and expressed her outspoken feminist views.

"These last seven months have been a rewarding process...to take the year's most-read fashion issue and steer its focus to the values, causes, and people making an impact in the world today," Meghan said in a statement released by the Royal Family.

"Through this lens, I hope you'll feel the strength of the collective in the diverse selection of women chosen for the cover as well as the team of support I called upon within the issue to help bring this to light. I hope readers feel as inspired as I do, by the forces for change they'll find within these pages," the statement added. 

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