Meghan Markle ‘was furious about her Vanity Fair cover claiming it was RACIST due to quote used’, insider claims
MEGHAN Markle thought her Vanity Fair front cover was racist, it is claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex was reportedly “very unhappy” with the headline of the magazine’s October 2017 issue which read: “She’s just wild about Harry.”
It referenced a Judy Garland song of the same name which appeared in the 1939 film Babes in Arms and used blackface dancers.
Meghan, 41, was said to be furious at the connotations, and she and then-boyfriend Prince Harry immediately sought to get it changed online.
A source told royal author Valentine Low: “They thought it had been racially motivated.”
The former actress was apparently so outraged she wanted to fire her newly hired PR advisor Keleigh Thomas Morgan.
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In an excerpt of Low’s new book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown, published by the Daily Mail, an insider said: “She was very unhappy with how that had been handled.”
In the interview, during which she “ecstatically” revealed details of her relationship with Harry, Meghan gushed: “We’re in love.”
But on top of thinking it was veiled in racism, Suits star Meghan also disliked the photos chosen and was disappointed the piece focused on the prince, 38, and not her career or charity work, it is alleged.
“She was looking to throw blame in every possible direction, despite it having been a positive piece,” a source said.
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“She did not like the photographs. She thought the story was negative. She was upset that it was about Harry, not about her.”
The Sussexes began dating in 2016 and announced their engagement in November 2017 – weeks after the Vanity Fair mag came out.
At the time, relations between Meghan and Kensington Palace staff were said to be beginning to fray.
She was later accused of bullying – driving two personal assistants out of the household and undermining the confidence of a third.
A senior aide allegedly raised concerns about her “difficult demands” to which she snapped: “It’s not my job to coddle people.”
She also reportedly left others shaking and in tears amid the “febrile atmosphere” that existed when Meghan and Harry lived beside William and Kate, both 40.
The duchess denied the allegations and accused aides of launching a “calculated smear campaign” against her ahead of her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The atmosphere apparently worsened in the run-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding, with rows over scheduling, announcements and the choir.
And she accused the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly of deliberately dragging her feet in helping her choose a tiara for the big day in 2018.
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In response, Harry shouted: “What Meghan wants, she gets”, according to biographer Robert Jobson.
The Sun has contacted Meghan’s representatives for comment.
What is blackface and why is it racist?
The concept of blackface emerged in the US after the Civil War and many people find it deeply offensive.
It involved white performers playing cruel caricatures of black people.
The act of darkening their skin – using shoe polish or greasepaint – painting on exaggerated features and displaying exaggerated mannerisms was steeped in centuries of racism.
But it spread across America and Europe, and remains a problem today.
David Leonard, a Washington State University professor told History: “It’s an assertion of power and control.
“It allows a society to routinely and historically imagine African Americans as not fully human.
“It serves to rationalise violence and segregation.”