Then it emerged that Enninful had offered Meghan a cover, but she had declined it on the grounds of ‘modesty’. This was taken to mean that Meghan was implying that Catherine Cambridge, who had recently been on the cover, and with whom she was known to be on the outs, was vain and immodest, while she, Meghan, was retiring and modest for declining the honour. She was condemned for casting shade on her sister-in-law and for supposing that declining a lesser position, while requesting a greater one such as the guest editorship, indicated modesty.
Mr Borkowski had been absolutely correct. Sunshine Sachs and Meghan simply did not understand that what works in America doesn’t necessarily work in Britain. Not only was Meghan’s guest editorship mocked for being shallow and puerile, but it was also condemned for having revealed political bias, unnecessary prejudice, woke pretentiousness, and unregal behaviour. From a public relations point of view, it had been a disaster, demonstrating how out of step both Meghan and her media management team were with their target market. They had demonstrated such insensitive overkill that they had managed to turn what could have been a golden opportunity into a rout. In the process, Sunshine Sachs had made their undoubtedly intelligent and capable client look silly.
The guest editorship also confirmed the worst fears of those who believed that Meghan was intent on making herself into a global brand. There were real concerns at the palace that she would damage the reputation of the monarchy for being above commerce as well as politics unless a way could be found to redirect her energies into something less controversial.
The reasons are obvious why constitutional monarchy needs to ban members of reigning royal families from political activity as well as from engaging in commercial activity for personal gain. Yet Meghan and Harry seemed oblivious to the fact that you cannot on the one hand represent all the people of a country while on the other hand you are espousing only one political persuasion, nor can you be above the hurly-burly of finance while at the same time getting your hands grubby making deals. Even if your commercial activities are beyond reproach, the overlap between commerce and politics is self-evident. There is always a segment of the population who might disapprove of your monetary activities and in doing so, draw you into a political argument. Having politically and commercially clean hands is like being a virgin. It is an absolute. It’s either/or. You can’t be above the hurly-burly of trade and politics while being an entrepreneur or a politician, any more than you can be almost a virgin.
Meghan and Harry, however, were oblivious to the consequences insofar as they might adversely affect the monarchy, though they were only too mindful of things as these affected themselves. They both felt that Meghan had a right to her political opinions, that no one had a right to deprive her of her right to express them, moreover that they were such good opinions that everyone else should possess them, and those who did not, needed enlightening. Never one to hide their light or misery under a bushel, Meghan, and Harry on her behalf, complained vociferously about how her ‘voice’ was being ‘muted’ and her ‘soul crushed’. She did not consider that the monarchy might be worth the sacrifice, and he backed her up in that belief. As far as they were concerned, monarchy or none, she was going to get her point across, and if she couldn’t do it orally, she’d do it silently. So when President Trump, who is someone for whom she has a pathological loathing, arrived in Britain with the First Lady Melania Trump for their State Visit at the beginning of June 2019, Meghan declined to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace with the other royals, though Prince Harry made an appearance. Maternity leave was given as the excuse for her absence, though she managed days later to progress down the Mall from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade for Trooping the Colour in one of the state landaus, a veritable picture of robust good health with an adoring Harry shooting her approving looks when he wasn’t beaming proudly at the assembled crowd. The press were quick to pick up on the underlying message: Meghan had snubbed Trump. This did not strike the British as a source of glee, not when the Queen had exemplarily hosted world leaders such as Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania, and made sure that she accorded all of them the dignity their office demanded even if she might have had personal reservations about their human rights records. One person who could not condemn his daughter-in-law for her undiplomatic behaviour, however, was Prince Charles, who had snubbed President Hu Jintao of China on his state visit in 2005.
Of course, if Meghan did have long term goals where American politics were concerned, her conduct made perfect sense. Shortly afterwards, she reaffirmed her political sympathies when she asked Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea for tea at Frogmore Cottage - and made sure that the world knew about the visit. It began to look suspiciously as if Meghan was playing a long game, and that she was doing it with skill.
Political ambitions aside, she and Harry remained working members of the Royal Family, so, on the 23rd September 2019, they took off on a ten day tour of South Africa. No one outside royal circles appreciated that this would most likely be their final royal tour. As far as the British press were concerned, it was once more business as usual. It needs to be emphasised at this point that everyone wanted Meghan and Harry’s tour to succeed. Because a constant run of bad publicity is in no one’s interest except possibly the subject who wishes to be presented as a victim, the British press were eager for the trip to go well so that they could
