What Can We Tell About Meghan Markle’s Political Opinions From Her Vogue Cover

In the biggest fashion industry news since the passing of Karl Lagerfeld, Meghan Markle has co guest edited the September issue of British Vogue.

The cover star? Instead of a model, or Meghan herself, Vogue presents a diverse, beautiful line-up of women from all of the the world, all of whom have a voice in the world right now.

Royals aren't supposed to express political opinions, but in putting a group of left-leaning feminist women on the cover of the magazine, we get a peak into what Meghan's political opinions might be.

Obviously we don't know for sure what Meghan was thinking when she chose her cover stars, but we can speculate...

Climate Change

Aged just 16, Greta Thunberg is the youngest person on the Vogue cover. She's a world famous anti-climate change campaigner who inspired 1.4 million children to go on strike in 2018 against a lack action being taken on global warming. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan is a believer in climate change (thankfully) and supports Greta's motion to create a greener world.

Childbirth & Breastfeeding

Salma Hayek is an actress and a campaigner against violence towards women. She is also a breastfeeding activist who breastfed another woman's baby baby in Sierra Leone, which she said she did to help reduce stigma. Her inclusion is in line with Meghan's stance as a feminist, and also suggests that Meghan may perhaps value the destigmatisation of breastfeeding .

Christy Turlington Burns was a supermodel in the 80s and 90s. She's now a humanitarian and campaigner for safer childbirth. After suffering complications in her own 2003 childbirth, and upon learning that over 500,000 women die each year during childbirth (of which 90% of the deaths are preventable), Turlington was inspired to pursue a Master's degree in Public Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan admires her work for safer childbirth and supports her calls for better maternity care for women worldwide.

Political activism

Jane Fonda's political activism is wide ranging, but includes early support of the civil rights movement, opposition to the Vietnam war and Native American rights. She is a feminist campaigner who has lent her voice to anti-rape and anti-violence protests. Her inclusion tallies with Meghan's identifying as a feminist.

The most overly political choice for the cover, Jacinta is Prime Minister of New Zealand. She's also one of the only women ever to have given birth while being PM. She's a Labour prime-minister and left-leaning, describing herself as a 'progressive' and a 'feminist', so Meghan giving her the nod implies that they might share left-wing politics.

LQBTQ+ issues

Laverne is best known for her role on Orange Is The New Black. She's a trans woman and has regularly spoken out about the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan values LGBTQ+ rights.

Body positivity

Jameela Jamil is a 'body positive activist' who came to prominence as an actress on The Good Place. She's known for calling out famous women - specifically Kardashians - for advertising detox teas. She also calls for bans on airbrushing in magazines and adverts. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan is also pro body positivity.

Racial equality

19.year-old Yara Shahidi is an actress and activist who starred in Black-ish. She's also an anti-racism and pro-equality campaigner. She interviewed Hillary Clinton for Teen Vogue in 2017. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan values anti-racism campaigning (and given the abuse she has experienced that's probably no surprise).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and short stories, best known for the enormously successful _Half of a Yellow Sun._In 2008 she was awarded a McArthur Genius Grant to further her writing career and work as an activist. Her TED talk focused on the lack of diverse representation in fiction and how that affected her as a child. Her inclusion also implies Meghan's focus on diverse voices and possibly that she's also a fan of Chimamanda's writing.

Akech Adut is a South Sudanese-Australian. She was a refugee as a child. She was the second ever model to be a 'bride' in a Chanel show (under Karl Lagerfeld). Following her success her agency signed four other black models. Adut has been quoted as saying that she doesn't want to sound 'up herself' but that it's nice to be making a difference.

Mental Health

Adwoa Aboah is a British fashion model. She has spoken openly about her struggles with addiction and depression. Her inclusion demonstrates that Meghan (like her husband) feels strongly about supportive open discussions about mental health issues.

Sports & Culture

Ramla is a Somalian boxer based in London and current African Zone Featherweight Champion as of 2019. She moved to the UK as a war-refugee and has since fronted campaigns for Nike. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan feels strongly about women in sports, and in the UK providing refuge to people from war torn countries.

Francesca Hayward is a ballerina and is the principal dancer at the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden. She stars in the upcoming Cats movie. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan is a patron of the arts (unsurprising given her background as an actress).

British actress Gemma Chan started out on Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Fresh Meat, and is now a darling of the fashion industry. She's also a super smart cookie who was offered a training contract with top law firm Slaughter and May.

Anti-ableism

Sinéad Burke is an Irish writer, academic, influencer and activist. She was born with achondroplasia, a condition which causes dwarfism, and started a blog as a teenager to explain how hard it was for her to buy clothes, and the sense of exclusion that gave her. Her inclusion suggests that Meghan is supportive of Sinead's work to improve life for people with disabilities.