The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has given her first interview since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Having shot a glossy photoshoot eight days before the Queen's death with US magazine Variety, she agreed to speak again with the magazine following the death of the monarch, to 'celebrate an icon'.
'What’s so beautiful is to look at the legacy that [Harry's] grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts,' Meghan told Variety. 'Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like. I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her.' Although she says it's been a 'complicated time', she says Prince Harry, her husband, has been his usual, optimistic self — and others have commented on the new perspective that grief gives us. Harry's comforting words to Meghan? 'Now she’s reunited with her husband.'
The interviewer also asked about how she felt about recent interviews she has given, including a cover with New York Magazine that 'some found to be snarky'.
Meghan seems to have moved past it, adding: 'I’ve had some time to reflect on it. Part of me is just really trusting, really open — that’s how I move in the world. I have to remember that I don’t ever want to become so jaded that that piece of me goes away. So despite any of those things? Onward. I can survive it.'
And she's got big plans for Archewell, her and Harry's company, with which she has already launched her podcast, Archetypes. First, there's the fly-on-the-wall Netflix documentary, produced by Handmaid's Tale director Liz Garbus, which, although eagerly-anticipated, critics have said follows on too closely from the death of the Queen and period of national mourning (it's slated for release in early 2023).
Meghan said of Garbus: 'It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.'
But she wants to use Archewell to work on much bigger projects — including bringing back the rom-com. People love love, she say, including herself. 'It doesn’t always have to be so serious,' she tells Variety. 'Like a good rom-com. Don’t we miss them? I miss them so much. I’ve probably watched “When Harry Met Sally” a million times. And all the Julia Roberts rom-coms. We need to see those again.'
This is clearly a more relaxed, comfortable Meghan than we'd seen in recent interviews, as she happily chats about sharing an office with Harry at home (he prefers responding by text, she prefers email), her love of Beyonce, watching 'Jeopardy!' and doing Wordle in bed with a glass of wine, and Harry's favourite burger joint (In-N-Out burger, sadly not available in the UK).
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