As readers of this column will know, the Sussexes’ blueprint for the future gained fresh momentum with their headline-grabbing, quasi-royal tour of Australia.
Between children’s hospital drop-ins and public glad-handing, lucrative keynote gigs and the Duchess’ splashy tie-in with a high-end, affiliate-driven fashion app, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may well be congratulating themselves on perfecting the half-in, half-out formula they have long aspired to – but which was technically denied them under the terms of the Sandringham summit.
But just weeks later, it seems they may have hit a snag.
It is not Buckingham Palace (or, in the conspiratorial Sussex parlance, ‘the institution’) blocking their path, but – perhaps more tellingly – two of pop culture’s most powerful gatekeepers.
You may have heard of them: Anna Wintour and Martha Stewart.
So, while the Sussexes may now be deliberately flouting the directives the late Queen Elizabeth II famously set out at her Norfolk estate in January 2020, a different set of queens – those who rule the domains of fashion and lifestyle – have stepped up to make their position on the wayward royals clear.
That is, they are firmly on Team Royal Family.
Hot on the heels of the Sussexes’ Australia trip, King Charles and Queen Camilla launched an offensive of their own with a four-day State Visit (yes, a real royal tour) to Meghan and Harry’s home turf in the States.
The Sussexes’ recent quasi-royal tour of Australia saw them blend traditional royal tour elements with commercial ventures; they are pictured here arriving at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on April 14
The visit also saw Meghan Markle deliver a keynote address at the Her Best Life summit in Sydney on April 17
Unsurprisingly, a catch-up with Charles’ California-based son and daughter-in-law was not on the agenda.
Instead, the monarchs were the toast of the US of A as they made stops around the country, meeting citizens, dignitaries and celebrities, and were hosted by President Donald Trump himself (even if he did struggle at times with royal protocol).
It was in New York that Camilla and Charles crossed paths with cultural icons Martha Stewart and Anna Wintour.
Stewart is, of course, the original lifestyle empire mogul. Her billion-dollar business spans TV shows, cookbooks, gardening tomes and branded products.
She undoubtedly paved the way for future female lifestyle entrepreneurs. Stewart walked so the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Kourtney Kardashian could run.
Meghan’s recent moves make it clear she hopes to follow this well-worn path to lifestyle stardom, mirroring Stewart’s playbook with her Netflix series and the launch of her As Ever product range. Yet any hope of securing a stamp of approval was dashed when Stewart publicly revelled in her meeting with the heads of Royal Inc.
Stewart joined the King and Queen at the King’s Trust Global Gala held at Christie’s in New York, delighting in walking them along the line to meet a roster of notorious guests in attendance.
Martha Stewart joined the King and Queen at the King’s Trust Global Gala at Christie’s in New York, even delighting in walking them along the line to meet a roster of notable guests
The American lifestyle entrepreneur even has her own nickname for the monarch: ‘Chuck’
According to TMZ, the lifestyle maven even indulged in using her nickname for King Charles: ‘Chuck’.
And when asked by the outlet what lifestyle advice she might offer the royals, she replied: ‘They don’t need it at all. I need it from them,’ adding that the couple looked ‘great these days’.
Also lining up at the event was fashion maven Anna Wintour – who even removed her trademark sunglasses for the auspicious occasion.
The Devil Wears Prada films may give the impression that the real-life Wintour waits for no one – and yet here she was, dutifully in the royal greeting line, standing alongside stars like Lionel Richie, Charlotte Tilbury, Stella McCartney and Donatella Versace.
The interaction between Wintour and the royal couple was warm, with pictures showing her speaking animatedly to the King.
But it was Wintour’s moment later that day with Camilla at the New York Public Library that revealed the depth of her admiration for the reigning royals.
The Queen consort appeared at an event hosted by her literacy charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, with the former Vogue editor-in-chief among a select guest list.
Oh, and Sarah Jessica Parker was there. Could this be any stronger an endorsement from the upper echelons of American fashion and celebrity?
Queen Camilla was joined by Anna Wintour during a visit to the New York Public Library on April 29
The pair hugged and chatted animatedly at the intimate event hosted by Camilla’s literacy charity, The Queen’s Reading Room
Even Sex and the City star and fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker joined Queen Camilla at the New York Public Library event
At the event, Camilla and Wintour were pictured embracing and posing together for photographs.
The unspoken message seems clear: the messiahs of the American fashion world have chosen to side with the British King and Queen.
It also signals the possibility that Meghan’s ambitions in the fashion world may be hitting a wall, courtesy of the industry’s top gatekeepers.
Underscoring the point, the most coveted invite of the year, the Met Gala, once again failed to materialise for Meghan, with Wintour herself reportedly keeping the Duchess off the guest list.
If further proof were needed that Meghan is out of favour with fashion’s reigning queen, it comes in the form of a scathing insider claim ahead of this year’s Met Gala: Wintour is said to have held a grudge since Meghan aligned herself with former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful for the ‘Forces for Change’ issue in 2019.
‘Meghan pledged her allegiance to Enninful which p***ed off Anna,’ the source said, adding, ‘Anna hates her. Meghan doesn’t want to pay, and never returns things.
‘Also, Anna loves the Royal Family. She is a Dame. Anna would have hated how they [the Sussexes] handled their exit from The Firm.’
The former American Vogue editor was also seen sharing a laugh with King Charles at the King’s Trust Global Gala
… and another warm embrace with Queen Camilla
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, appeared to reveal their future blueprint when they visited Australia in mid-April
While the Sussexes were in Australia, it was announced that Meghan was an investor in the fashion platform OneOff, with her outfits from the trip added to the site for shoppers to view and purchase
When the Sussexes walked away from their publicly funded royal lifestyle in 2020, they envisioned carving out their own path through business deals, endorsements, media opportunities and other money-spinning ventures.
For Meghan, it seemed inevitable these ventures would align with her personal interests, particularly fashion and lifestyle.
Fast forward to today, and it is clear these ambitions remain central to a plan to capitalise on her personal brand.
But what the King and Queen’s recent, chummy interactions with some of the best in this business highlight is that the non-working royals still lack the endorsement of the very people who define success in these worlds.
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