The interview that showed Meghan Markle was going to break ALL the royal rules – and it was only a sign of things to come

So when Meghan was given the opportunity to do an interview with Vanity Fair magazine in July 2017, her approach was carefully agreed beforehand.
The Duchess of Sussex was told to steer well clear of such controversial subjects as racial politics, new president Donald Trump but most importantly of all – her increasingly serious relationship with Prince Harry.

However, when the magazine ran with the headline ‘Wild About Harry’ on its cover – focusing on her relationship with the prince rather than her work as an actor, activist and philanthropist – the Palace was stunned.
In what has later been seen as a warning sign that Meghan was prepared to not only ignore royal protocol but throw it out of the window entirely, she had talked extensively about her and the prince’s ‘love story’.
After seeing the cover, the duchess responded by phoning her PR firm and ‘hysterically’ telling them of the Palace’s fury, while also claiming the headline was racist due to its similarities to a song in a 1939 film which used blackface, according to royal authors.
Commentators have suggested the episode showed Meghan ‘would do things her own way,’ and ‘would not be constrained or restricted by protocol or precedent’.

When Harry and Meghan started dating in July 2016 they were a fiercely private couple.

They had been spotted in public together on a handful of occasions, with Harry allegedly making secret trips to pick her up from the airport on her visits to the UK.
And even once the news broke of their relationship in October, they remained out of the spotlight, preferring to keep a relatively low profile.
But as the relationship developed over the months, the royal couple wanted a way to launch Meghan properly with the public.
A full front page feature on the front of the glossy Vanity Fair felt like the best way to put across who the widely rumoured future wife of Harry was in a confident, proactive active way.