Although Jessica thought Harry was a perfectly nice person, she couldn’t see herself having a relationship with anyone who started out on that footing. The loss, I can tell you, was Harry’s, not hers. She is a beautiful, blue-eyed blonde with a perfect figure. She is stylish and tasteful and, more to the point, the real article. She would have made the most wonderful Duchess of Sussex.
Then Harry met Meghan.
As stated earlier, Meghan had flown to London to watch Serena Williams play tennis at Wimbledon. This trip would be pivotal and the way it came about gives a real insight into how Meghan has scaled the heights she has.
Nearly two years before, she had acquired a powerful British manager named Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, who had been upping her profile and getting her assignments while making connections Meghan would never have been able to make on her own. Because Meghan would never have met Harry without Nelthorpe-Cowne’s assistance, and the business manager is one of the few people who were witness to what actually happened, her input is vital, not the least of which being that her outstanding success in her chosen field indicates that she is an authority on the traits that make for success or failure in public life.
It is through Nelthorpe-Cowne’s observations that we can verify the qualities that made Meghan the success she became. The main tools, she decided, were a charming, seductive and charismatic personality allied to physical beauty and powered by a fierce intelligence and a unique determination to succeed.
The two women met in Ottawa in 2014 when the managing director and co-founder of the prestigious Kruger Cowne Talent Management company was in that city to promote the One Young World Summit, a conference for 18-30 year olds opened by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with such stars as Emma Watson and Kruger Cowne client Cher in attendance. Meghan was there not only as a successful if still minor actress, but also as the founder of The Tig. On the blog, she wrote about how she had come to be a Counsellor and how “One Young World invites young adults from all over the world who are actively working to transform the socio-political landscape by being the greater good. They are delegates who are speaking out against human rights violations, environmental crises, gender equality issues, discrimination and injustice. They are change.”
The two women had spoken on the ‘phone and emailed each other a number of times before meeting in person. They had already ‘clicked’ with ‘an instant connection’ before the South African-born, London-based Nelthorpe-Cowne had even set eyes on Meghan, whom she first met when she showed up at the hotel room in Ottawa that Meghan was sharing with Cory Vitiello for the duration of her stay. ’I could immediately tell she was special, that she had star quality. I’ve been in the business a long time and I know that’s not something you can train someone to be. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. She just has it.’
Had Nelthorpe-Cowne considered the circumstances of the meeting, she might have understood that Meghan was inadvertently giving her an insight into how she viewed others relative to herself. Cory is the one who opened the door while Meghan, unprepared for her pre-arranged appointment with her visitor, was dressed in a towelling bathrobe with her hair tied back. Without displaying any compunction for what could have been interpreted as a discourteous display of disrespect, Meghan advanced effusively and ‘we hugged as if we had known each other for ages. She was delightful: warm and personable and hugely charismatic.’
Meghan’s social skills now completely sucked Nelthorpe-Cowne in. She made perfect ‘eye contact and then the connection. She instantly brings you right into her world.’ She also makes you think that there is no one else in the world with whom she would rather be. ‘What people don’t realise about Meghan is that she is ferociously intelligent.’ And so ambitious that she is in a class of her own.
Frank about the desirability of capitalising upon every opportunity, Meghan used the Summit and her blog to advance both The Tig and herself while also giving it the attention it deserved. She had done her homework so knew that the Kruger Cowne Talent Management company represented 300 top names, in more than 70 countries, including Cher, Bob Geldof, Sir Richard Branson, and Elle Macpherson. Their specialty was drumming up corporate bookings, public speaking and appearances for their clients, while negotiating literary, publication and brand endorsement deals in areas as disparate as sport, design, fashion, media and broadcasting. If Meghan could get Nelthorpe-Cowne to take her on, she would have climbed the next rung on the ladder to becoming the towering success she wanted to be. Moreover, she would have made the leap from North America to England, which, she would later confide to the English socialite Lizzie Cundy, was where she wanted to go.
Meghan and Nelthorpe-Cowne immediately became what Diana Wales used to call ‘fast friends’. The business manager soon asked Meghan if she would like to be represented by her. Meghan’s technique, as described by others and confirmed by Nelthorpe-Cowne’s account of how they came to be involved both personally and professionally, is to make the first move, go in gangbusters, let everyone realise how marvellous she is, then step back and let them make the running. It is a brilliant way of operating, for the other person thinks they’re in control, while in fact Meghan has been the driving force and remains in control.
Nelthorpe-Cowne ‘became her commercial agent, helping her obtain endorsements and sponsorship deals with
