Meghan Markle's 'Wild About Harry' cover story engulfed royals with dread, embarrassment: expert
For Meghan Markle, not all publicity was good publicity.
The "Suits" alum was said to be ecstatic when she nabbed the cover of Vanity Fair in 2017. But once the issue hit newsstands, both the actress and the British royal family were said to be shocked when they saw the cover was headlined "Meghan Markle, Wild About Harry!"
"This was an eye-opener for the royal family," British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard claimed to Fox News Digital. "A sense of dread and embarrassment engulfed them as Meghan’s words and views were made public… The feature and editorial certainly wasn’t usual protocol for someone joining the revered British royal family."
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Chard’s claims came shortly after Graydon Carter, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, told Page Six that he booked Meghan for one of his final covers before stepping down from his role in 2017. The journalist, who started working as the magazine’s editor in 1992, has a new book, "When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines."
"Jane Sarkin, who booked our covers, came in and said, ‘We should do a cover on Meghan Markle,’’ the 75-year-old told the outlet.
At the time, Meghan was starring on the legal drama "Suits."
"I said, ‘I have no idea what that is, why should we do a story on her?’" said Carter. "So she said, ‘Because she’s going to marry Prince Harry.’"
Carter also told the outlet that Meghan challenged the reporter who interviewed her after they booked her.
Carter claimed the future Duchess of Sussex said, "Excuse me, Is this going to all be about Prince Harry? Because I thought we were going to be talking about my charities and my philanthropy."
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"This woman is slightly adrift on the facts and reality," Carter remarked.
Carter, who knew Princess Diana, theorized how the late Princess of Wales would have felt about Harry’s starlet spouse.
"I would think she would feel great sorrow for her son to have been pulled away from his family like this, especially his brother but also his father," he told the outlet. "Anytime someone comes between siblings, that’s a disaster, horrible for a family."
Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson at Archewell, which handles the offices for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, for comment about Carter’s statements.
"Many of us were surprised to hear that she was unhappy with the cover and editorial," said Chard. "A feature on the cover of Vanity Fair is not accessible to most relatively unknown people. Hence, the world viewed this as an unexpected successful coup for the future wife of Prince Harry."
"[But] a few years later? Everything makes sense," Chard added.
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Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, started dating in 2016. They got engaged in 2017, the same year as her Vanity Fair cover story. They married in 2018.
"Some within the palace have even suggested that it’s how Meghan strategically solidified the engagement," Kinsey Schofield, host of the "To Di For Daily" podcast, claimed to Fox News Digital.
"It was also considered in poor taste for Meghan to use her connection to the monarchy to elevate herself," Schofield claimed. "Meghan wanted to wear Harry’s initials around her neck; she wanted to discuss their relationship and take advantage of all the attention she was finally receiving. This was a deep concern for the palace because they felt like her heart was not in the right place."
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner saw things differently.
"At the time, Meghan really wanted to ensure that her dream romance would not, in any way, be affected by anything. She also didn't want to appear to use the situation for personal gain," Turner told Fox News Digital. "She upheld her philanthropic work and values. She was deeply in love with a man who she recognized had gone through the living hell of his mother’s demise."
Chard pointed out that Meghan wanted the cover and article "to be solely about her" while her romance with Harry was quickly blossoming behind closed doors.
"She was understandably booked because of her Prince Harry connection," said Chard. "Meghan Markle was not a big name, especially in the U.K. … Meghan Markle is an ambitious woman. She wants fame, positive notoriety, and all the glitz, glamour and money that go hand-in-hand with this celebrated platform."
"King Charles was spot on, nicknaming Meghan ‘Tungsten,’ an unusual yet complimentary nickname highlighting her tenacity," she added.
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich said there’s a good reason why Carter would want to set the record straight.
"Carter’s comment regarding Meghan being ‘adrift from reality’ was an extremely polite way of saying she was, and since then, has confirmed herself to be completely self-delusional," Fordwich claimed.
"Carter’s respectability gives weight to his claims and further damages her, within high societies, on both sides of the Atlantic… His first-hand account paints a clear picture of what the public has perceived all along."
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In her sit-down with Vanity Fair, Meghan described how she was dealing with the public’s growing interest in her.
"It has its challenges, and it comes in waves — some days it can feel more challenging than others," she told the outlet. "And right out of the gate, it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend’s support."
Meghan also said that her parents have also uplifted her as she embarked on acting. Meghan is now estranged from her father, former Hollywood lighting director Thomas Markle, following his tell-alls with U.K. tabloids and posing for paparazzi photos.
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"My parents had been so supportive," she told the outlet. "Watching me audition, trying to make ends meet, taking all the odds-and-ends jobs to pay my bills. I was doing calligraphy, and I was a hostess at a restaurant — and all those things that actors do. My father knew how hard it is for an actor to get work, so he, above all people, was so proud that I was able to beat the odds."
Meghan also noted that she and Harry have bonded over philanthropy.
"We’re a couple," she said. "We’re in love. I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. But we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story."
Chard believes that Meghan’s cover story, as innocent as the future duchess may have thought it to be, proved to be the beginning of many bumpy roads ahead.
"As Prince Harry highlighted, ‘What Meghan wants, Meghan gets,’" said Chard. "However, you can't always get what you want. And in this case, Meghan didn't secure her wishes."
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. They cited the unbearable intrusions of the British press and lack of support from the palace as their reasons for the move. They now reside in the wealthy, coastal city of Montecito, California, with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.