Home Australia As US celebrity bible publishes damning takedown of Harry and Meghan, why America is FINALLY falling out of love with the Sussexes (just like Britain did)

As US celebrity bible publishes damning takedown of Harry and Meghan, why America is FINALLY falling out of love with the Sussexes (just like Britain did)

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Celebrity bible Vanity Fair has published a damning expose on how the five years since Megxit have been successful for the Sussexes.

Palace & Prejudice shouted the headline of a highly provocative article about alleged racism at the heart of Britain and its monarchy in the May 2018 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, the month Harry married Meghan.

Written by Aatish Taseer, a writer touted as a royal expert because he once dated Lady Gabriella Windsor, it surprisingly claimed that ‘the British are perfectly happy to deal with people of color who know their place; It is the “conceited whore” or “P***”, who awakens in them an animal hatred.”

The rest of the glossy magazine’s issue, devoted largely to the smiling royal couple on its cover, had a similar, if less angry, vein: how Meghan was a breath of fresh air in a horribly reactionary family and country, and how , the ‘American Princess’ – to quote the headline of a gushing profile – ‘with her Hollywood upbringing, her humanitarian impulse and her strong sense of self… she already shines in the spotlight.’

Vanity Fair – a title that a former editor once told me has a commercial imperative to write brags about celebrities because it depends on them to pose for its covers – would continue in the same fawning vein in the years to come. She has consistently sided with the Sussexes under their current editor, Radhika Jones, who, like Meghan, had broken new ground as the first person of color to be given the prestigious job.

However, now, in a significant shift, Vanity Fair has changed its mind about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Celebrity bible Vanity Fair has published a damning expose on how the five years since Megxit have been successful for the Sussexes.

Harry and Meghan are back on the cover of the February issue, only this time, as the headline ‘American Hustle’ suggests, the coverage is anything but obsequious.

An in-depth 8,000-word article by writer Anna Peele contains a litany of unflattering revelations, ranging from the mildly critical (they’ve annoyed neighbors in snooty Montecito, California, with all the attention they attract) to the devastatingly damaging. such as the claim that Meghan has discussed the possibility of a potential ‘post-divorce’ book deal should she split from Prince Harry.

Investigated “over many months” during which Vanity Fair “spoke to dozens of people who worked and lived alongside the couple,” the article also addresses one of the ongoing disputes between the duchess and those critics who suggest she is a bully and unbearably demanding. According to the magazine’s sources, some of Meghan’s subordinates at her podcast company found her so difficult that they ended up abandoning her early or even requiring therapy.

As Meghan attempts to rescue her faltering money-making businesses with a new cooking and gardening Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, the timing of Vanity Fair’s broadside couldn’t have been worse for her ‘rebrand’.

So why has a title that was long one of the couple’s most fervent press cheerleaders taken such a drastic 180-degree turn? One answer is that it reflects the changing mood of the American media, which, once the couple’s biggest defenders, has recently turned sour.

As Meghan attempts to rescue her faltering money-making businesses with a new cooking and gardening Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, the timing of Vanity Fair's broadside couldn't have been worse for her 'rebrand'.

As Meghan attempts to rescue her faltering money-making businesses with a new cooking and gardening Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, the timing of Vanity Fair’s broadside couldn’t have been worse for her ‘rebrand’.

Meghan Markle in her home office in Montecito

Meghan Markle in her home office in Montecito

The Sussexes’ open hatred of the British press was a key reason they moved to the United States, whose own media gave every early indication that they were going to support the local girl and her prince, no matter what.

Few American media outlets treated her famous 2021 television interview with her friend Oprah Winfrey, in which they were allowed to trot out a history of racism and rejection, as anything other than gospel truth.

However, the American media is apparently tired of its endless victimhood and blinding lack of self-awareness. In 2023, many American reviews of Harry’s memoir Spare were negative, with the usually sympathetic New York Times describing his battles with critics as “boring”.

In December, another previously loyal liberal media outlet turned on them when The Cut, a website run by New York Magazine to which two years earlier Meghan had given a rare interview, disparaged Prince Harry’s widely derided Netflix series on polo under the headline “Harry and “Meghan’s projects can’t help but fail.”

That same month, the Hollywood Reporter included the Sussexes on its list of Hollywood’s “biggest losers,” criticizing their Harry & Meghan Netflix series and Harry Spare’s memoir as “whiny” and describing the couple’s brand as a ” sanctimonious bubble that begs to be burst.” ‘.

Vanity Fair may have done that. Their latest article admits that their love for each other is deep and genuine, but reveals that they are not as generous in spirit with others.

Vanity Fair admits that their love for each other is deep and genuine, but claims that they are not as generous in spirit with others.

Vanity Fair admits that their love for each other is deep and genuine, but claims that they are not as generous in spirit with others.

Reviews in the United States of Harry's 2023 memoir, Spare, were negative, with the usually sympathetic New York Times describing his battles with critics as

Reviews in the United States of Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare, were negative, with the usually sympathetic New York Times describing his battles with critics as “boring.”

The duchess has strongly denied previous allegations that she bullied palace staff in London. A former team member working on her media projects told Vanity Fair that people who worked with Meghan on these projects reported similar unhappy experiences.

“At first she would be warm and effusive,” writes Anna Peele. “When something went wrong, often due to Meghan and Harry’s own demands… Meghan would become cold and reserved toward the person she perceived as responsible.”

One source, who said the duchess’ bullying of her subordinates could happen “any Tuesday”, described it as “really, really, really horrible”. Very painful. Because he constantly plays checkers (I’m not even going to say chess), but he is very aware of where everyone is on his board.

The source added: “And when you’re not in, they’ll throw you to the wolves at any moment… Really like a Mean Girls teenager.”

A former worker in their media production said of the Sussexes that “you don’t say no to them; I left because I couldn’t live with myself anymore.”

Two sources said a colleague at the studio that produces Archetypes, Meghan’s podcast about breaking down stereotypes about women, took a leave of absence after working on just three episodes of the shows and never returned.

“Several others described taking extended breaks from work to escape scrutiny, quitting their jobs, or undergoing therapy after working with Meghan,” says Vanity Fair.

However, producer Jane Marie, who worked with the couple during the development of Archewell’s audio projects, insisted to Vanity Fair that Meghan is “just a lovely, genuine person.”

And despite the allegations made in the profile, staff loyal to Meghan and Harry previously defended the couple to US Weekly magazine, describing the Sussexes as “loving” bosses who give employees old baby clothes, fresh flowers and “care packages” from their children.

Perhaps stress levels may have been fueled by their podcast ideas, or lack thereof, to justify the $20 million deal they reached with streaming giant Spotify in 2020 (and which was mutually finalized in 2023) .

According to Vanity Fair, Harry suggested a series about sociopaths in which he interviewed powerful men like Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg. Someone who worked with the Sussexes on their audio projects said they remembered the prince saying: “I have very serious childhood trauma.” Obviously. My mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that doesn’t make me one of these bad guys?

A former Spotify worker said the couple “had no ideas” when it came to making podcasts and only wanted to produce them “because they knew celebrities made them.”

The staff were so desperate for inspiration that after Prince Harry ordered a cup of hot chocolate, they suggested a series in which he tried different chocolates while chatting with a friend. He reportedly considered the idea but rejected it. Producer Marie, however, says: “I can say that they had really great ideas for the shows, interesting proposals and interesting guests.”

Embarrassingly for a woman who makes much of her connections with celebrities, several major stars, including Taylor Swift and Beyonce, who were approached to appear on Archetypes, turned Meghan down, former staff believe.

The most surprising allegation, particularly in an article that portrays Harry as a lonely, unoccupied figure in his new existence, is that Meghan’s team had a conversation with a publisher to gauge interest in the idea of ​​a possible book about him. that she would write. her life in case they divorced. Of course, Vanity Fair ironically points out, the discussions never progressed because they are not getting a divorce. The Sussexes have so far refused to respond to the article.

Meanwhile, fellow Montecitans would like to live somewhere else. “I still think they are the most legit, fake people on the planet,” one said. “They left England to escape the scrutiny of the press, and all they do is try to appear in the press in the United States.”

As she has gone from fawning to cold in her attitude toward the Sussexes over time, the American press can take solace in the fact that the British media did exactly the same thing in the two years or so between her marriage and her abrupt departure for North America. Has the couple trying so hard to win hearts and headlines discovered once again that there is only so much Sussex virtuosity any country can accept?

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