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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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Meghan Markle made a major splash when she appeared on the 2017 cover of Vanity Fair. (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
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.”
Meghan Markle was relatively unknown in the U.K. before her relationship with Prince Harry came to light. (Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
“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.”
Patrick J. Adams as Michael Ross and Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane on “Suits.” (Nigel Parry/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
“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.
Meghan Markle’s interview with Vanity Fair was published in 2017. She and Prince Harry announced their engagement later that year. (NDZ/Star Max/GC Images)
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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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began dating in 2016. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
“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.
Meghan Markle wanted to be known for her charity work, not her romance with Prince Harry. (Getty Images )
“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.”
Graydon Carter’s book, “When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines,” is out now. (Getty Images)
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.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married on May 19, 2018, at Windsor Castle. (Getty Images)
“[But] a few years later? Everything makes sense,” Chard added.
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Graydon Carter, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, knew Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
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.
Kinsey Schofield, host of the “To Di For Daily” podcast, told Fox News Digital that, according to royal author Valentine Low, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex felt Vanity Fair’s headline had racial connotations. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
“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.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto on Sept. 25, 2017. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)
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.”
According to Vanity Fair, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry bonded over charity work. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)
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.
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Meghan Markle applauds during the opening ceremonies of the Invictus Games in Toronto on Sept. 23, 2017. (Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images)
“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.
The relationship between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the King and Queen of Britain has been strained for some time. (Mark Cuthbert/UK Press/Getty Images)
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich said there’s a good reason why Carter would want to set the record straight.
Meghan Markle attends Day 8 of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at Wimbledon in London on July 4, 2016. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images)
“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.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. (AP)
“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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Meghan Markle told Vanity Fair in 2017 that she was receiving plenty of support from her family, friends and her “boyfriend.” (Getty Images)
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 Markle hasn’t been in the U.K. since 2022, when Queen Elizabeth II passed away. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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.
Britain’s Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrive for the 2024 Royal Salute Polo Challenge to Benefit Sentebale in Wellington, Florida, on April 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
“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.”
Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle appear during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace in London on Nov. 27, 2017. (Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry chat on stage at Archewell’s World Mental Health Day Summit. (Reuters/Mike Segar)
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.
