According to Bower, Markle was instructed by the Palace not to go into detail about her relationship with Prince Harry while being interviewed by Vanity Fair for their 2017 September issue.
But the (now) Duchess of Sussex was unable to keep her promise and told the Vanity Fair interviewer, Sam Kashner, that she and Harry were in love. That prompted the magazine to run the headline: “She’s Just Wild About Harry!” on the cover of their September issue for 2017, yet the couple did not announce their engagement until November of that year.
When the Palace were sent pre-publication copies of the magazine, they were shocked to learn that the article focused on her love affair with the beloved Prince Harry, rather than her work as an actor, activist and philanthropist, says Bower.
The Palace’s shock spurred Meghan to contact her public relations team, Sunshine Sachs, and was apparently “hysterical” when she told them about the Palace’s fury.
Meghan was apparently furious that the article wasn’t centered around her work as an activist, however, Vanity Fair was apparently unable to authenticate two stories she told about her activism: one when she was a child and ran a successful campaign against Procter & Gamble, and another time when she made a speech at the United Nations Women’s Conference in 2015.
Meghan says her campaign against P&G, the laundry and cleaning supply company, successfully urged them to change a sexist slogan that read, “Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans,” to “People all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans.” However, Vanity Fair could not find any evidence that authenticated Meghan’s story.
The Vanity Fair interviewer also said he had “no idea” who Meghan was before the interview. In addition, Bower says that Kashner was uncomfortable with interviewing Meghan because the two were limited about what they could discuss due to orders from the Palace.
“Both knew that a lot was riding on the interview, and both understood that the critical issue of Harry had been vetoed,” said Bower of Meghan and Kashner. “Meghan spoke, he realized, knowing that she had the winning ticket but avoiding giving an impression of triumphalism.”
Meghan then decided to open up, carefully, about her relationship with Harry, to Kashner’s “surprise” and “elation,” writes Bower.
“We're a couple. 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,” said Meghan to Vanity Fair in 2017.
“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.”
Responding to the Palace’s anger, Meghan then called her PR team, surprised they hadn’t asked the magazine to remove the comments, and even raised concern that she would fire them, according to Bower.