by Omid Scobie
Meghan’s philanthropic portfolio closely followed her interests and abilities. “She wanted it to be a reflection of who she is, what she is capable of, and a preview of the many things she would like to explore as a working member of the royal family,” an aide said. “Female empowerment and gender diversity will always be a cornerstone of her work.” Meghan shared her horror at the lack of both when visiting the ACU in February after being shown data revealing that UK professors were overwhelmingly white and male. “Oh my god,” she exclaimed during a conversation with the University of Manchester’s lead for equality, diversity, and inclusion, Dr. Rachel Cowan. “This is quite a shock to see and clear we have some way to go.”
A longtime advocate of the “adopt, don’t shop” animal movement, Meghan also became a patron of the Mayhew animal welfare center, where, on her second visit to their northwest London headquarters, she told CEO Caroline Yates, “Animals are such an important part of my life. There is such a big need for services like this—in London, the UK, and around the world—but I’m painfully aware of how important funding is. I want to help you grow in any way that I can.”
Meghan’s movements and fashion choices were followed not just in the UK but by America’s most prominent publications as well. Anna Wintour called Meghan’s style “fantastic” at the April 2019 Women in the World summit. “I’ve been thinking a lot about suits recently,” the editor in chief of Vogue told the audience. “Thank you to the Duchess of Sussex!”
While the creation of separate courts allowed the brothers to pursue their own interests, it was also designed to make sure necessary resources were in place for the brothers’ changing responsibilities. “The Cambridges and the Sussexes have different futures, and that means that you need to ready both of those households for reign change,” a senior aide said, referring to when Prince Charles becomes king. “Trying to get as much of the structures in place to put them all onto a permanent footing is the end goal.”
Harry realized he may have a finite period for he and Meghan to make the most impact on a global scale. Mindful that once George turns eighteen and becomes an active senior royal, the focus of the institution will be on the succession of Charles, William, and George—leaving Harry sidelined, just as his uncles Edward and Andrew were when Charles and his brothers came of age.
Despite the pitch, the Sussexes never received their own office to manage their affairs. A source said it was made clear they would not be receiving any preferential treatment. The news was a blow to the pair, but in a compromise of sorts, they got their own small team within Buckingham Palace. Although it wasn’t all they asked for, it was more than what had originally been in the plan for them—an offer of sharing a staff with other royal family members under the larger Buckingham Palace umbrella.
Prince Charles wanted the split to be cost neutral. But according to aides, William fought to make sure that enough resources were allocated from the budget for the newly established Sussex household to have a proper working space and a suitable communications budget. The Duke of Cambridge knew that the Sussexes were important to the royal family and needed necessary support. And smaller roles for Harry and Meghan would have meant more work for the Cambridges. Over several weeks, William and his dedicated private secretary, Simon Case, attended meetings with senior Buckingham Palace aides to ensure that Harry and Meghan received the best deal possible.
With the extra funds the couple were able to hire Sara Latham, a highly regarded PR professional and ex–Clinton administration official, to manage the press strategy for the newly formed Sussex household.
A dual US and UK citizen, Sara had worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 bid for the presidency and as chief of staff to the campaign’s chairman, John Podesta. She also had experience in British government, as special advisor to Tony Blair’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport from 2005 to 2006. Her most recent post before joining the Firm was as a managing partner for Freud’s, an international PR firm started by the ex-husband of Elisabeth Murdoch, who was the media titan Rupert Murdoch’s daughter. Having worked alongside Nick Loughran, one of Harry’s favorite former communications staffers and the husband of the Kensington Palace assistant Clara, Sara was also somewhat familiar with royal culture.
Smart, funny, and a great strategist, Sara told it like it was—and Harry and Meghan immediately took a liking to her.
When the household split was announced, so came the dividing up of staff who had previously worked with both brothers, as well as lots of rearranging. Jason Knauf, the Sussexes’ longtime communications director, moved over to work for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in an expanded role involving the couple’s charitable work and later becoming CEO of their foundation. Over the months ahead he would also oversee the split of the Royal Foundation and untangle many of the joint initiatives they once had. “There was an option for the four to keep going as they were, but the Cambridges were keen to get going on a clean break,” a source said. “Both couples wanted to pursue their charities separately.” While it wouldn’t be the immediate end of all ventures as the “Fab Four” (their final group project, a crisis text service called Shout, was announced later in May), it did mean an end to doing anything together as a group under the umbrella, such as the Royal Foundation Forum, the event in February 2018 where they had showcased their programs, including Heads Together and United for Wildlife.
Christian Jones—the former press secretary for the Department for Exiting the European Union—was tapped to run the Cambridges’ new communications operation. Both Harry and Meghan were upset to lose Christian, who had worked with the Sussexes when the two couples shared an office. Meghan had immediately hit it off with Christian after his hiring in December 2018. From their first lunch together at the Notting Hill Italian restaurant Chucs, Meghan was a fan. She adored that he spoke to her like a friend and wore sneakers to the office. She also loved his ideas. The two regularly brainstormed together with no airs or graces. However, the new opportunity spearheading the vision for the future king was a job Christian just couldn’t turn down.
As to Meghan’s reputation as a tough boss, aides described her as very determined but thoughtful, too. She often sent treats to the Palace offices, such as in early 2018, when she sent the communications team and private staff at Kensington Palace a large selection of sorbets to thank them for their help, and she often sent flowers and handwritten notes to key aides on their birthdays.
Still, Meghan will be the first to say she’s “focused on implementing change.”
“That’s the reality,” a source close to the duchess said. “That is what drives her and gets her up in the morning. And she has the platform to do it.”
In a major show of support by the Queen, Meghan was made vice president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust—a platform for young change-makers across the fifty-four member states that champions, funds, and connects young leaders. Harry joined her as president. In her first engagement as VP, Meghan joined a panel of female powerhouses—including the singer Annie Lennox and the former prime minister of Australia Julia Gillard—for an event to discuss the importance of International Women’s Day at King’s College London. At the event, Meghan was asked by Anne McElvoy, a senior editor at The Economist, how she responded to newspaper headlines describing her feminism as “trendy.”
“The idea of making the word ‘feminism’ trendy, that doesn’t make any sense to me,” Meghan said. “This is something that is going to be part of the conversation forever.”
Like his wife, Harry also didn’t waste any time putting his office to work. In April 2019, Harry and Oprah announced a partnership to produce a mental health series for Apple TV+ in late 2020 or early 2021. Oprah, who flew to London in March to meet Harry and a very pregnant Meghan, said the idea came about after a conversation with the prince. “What do you think are the most important issues facing the world right now?” she asked him. To which he answered unequivocally, “Climate change and mental wellness, mental fi
tness, and mental health.”
“I am incredibly proud to be working alongside Oprah,” Harry said in a statement. “I truly believe that good mental health—mental fitness—is the key to powerful leadership, productive communities, and a purpose-driven self . . . Our hope is that this series will be positive, enlightening, and inclusive—sharing global stories of unparalleled human spirit fighting back from the darkest places, and the opportunity for us to understand ourselves and those around us better.”
Harry’s professional life was really taking off. Just as important, however, his private one seemed to be settling down. He hoped that William’s advocacy on behalf of his household was the beginning of a fresh start for him and his brother. “At that moment, he decided to put the past behind him and appreciate the efforts his brother had made,” a source close to the couple said.
Harry was willing to accept that he and his brother were two different people. William was married to the institution of the monarchy with a very set role, while Harry was on his own path. And Harry had to admit that both princes had their noses put out of joint. In the end, though, they were a family, and that was not a bond worth breaking.
William was glad to be back on good terms with Harry. One Palace source shared that William told him in late March, “You know what? Me and my brother, for the first time in two months, have had a really lovely conversation together.”
Over Easter that year, Prince Harry arrived solo to the family Easter Sunday church service at Windsor Castle, since a very pregnant Meghan was not up for a big public engagement. Inside the chapel, the two chatted and laughed with each other.
“To see them warm with each other,” a Buckingham Palace aide said, “was delightful.”
19
Nesting in Windsor
After the Easter service, Harry returned to Frogmore Cottage with William and Kate, who stopped by to see how Meghan was doing.
Meghan joined William, Kate, and other family members in their family room (instead of the formal reception room), where they chatted over a cup of tea. The visit was brief, just thirty-five minutes, but it was the beginning of the couples’ coming together and putting things behind them—at least that was what Harry hoped after the show of support from his brother. Before William and Kate left, Harry excitedly showed them around the house, as it was their first time visiting Frogmore Cottage since the renovation.
Harry imagined his brother and sister-in-law coming regularly with their children to the cottage in Windsor, which “has a special place in their hearts,” according to a source close to Harry and Meghan. While they were falling in love, they were able to enjoy long walks on the private grounds of Frogmore House without fear of paparazzi. Later, of course, it was the site of their engagement photos and wedding reception.
“As a place to raise a child, it’s really lovely,” a trusted confidant of Meghan’s said. “They could open their door and have all of those private gardens. Both of them felt it would be a really positive thing for their child to be there, go on walks privately. While it wasn’t something they had considered before, once it became an option, they were both really excited about it.”
But first Frogmore had to be substantially renovated. Built in 1801, it was originally a country house for Queen Charlotte and her unmarried daughters. The cottage had many tenants (including Henry James Sr., the American theologian and the father of the philosopher William James and the novelist Henry James) until the early twenty-first century, when the ten-bedroom home was split into five separate units to house Windsor estate staff. Before Harry and Meghan moved into the cottage, which had been gifted to the couple by the Queen in the fall of 2018, it needed to be gutted and totally updated—complete with a family kitchen, nursery, and conservatory.
Plans for Harry and Meghan’s Frogmore Cottage renovations included conservatory extensions, several new gas fireplaces, and an open-plan kitchen. Meghan’s mother was expected to visit for extended periods in order to have plenty of time with her new grandchild; however, her work at home meant they could only be short stays. Despite reports of a “granny annex,” Doria would stay in a guest room just a few doors up from Harry and Meghan’s master.
All traditional floorboards, window frames, and doors were maintained. Also, part of the plans included extensive landscaping, since one of the attractions of Frogmore Cottage were the beautiful gardens where their baby could one day play freely.
While the £2.4 million price tag for the structural renovations was covered by the Sovereign Grant, the allowance provided annually by the government to support the Queen in her official duties and cover the family’s travel, palace upkeep, and royal employee payroll, the couple paid for the interior work themselves. Both careful with their money, Harry and Meghan did not spend, as rumored, £1 million on art. “Couldn’t be further from the truth,” said a friend, who noted that most of the art in the home were prints or framed vintage posters, including a nude character study by the modern New York artist Inslee Fariss, which Meghan kept in storage after moving out of her Toronto home.
The house is big, but the building itself is shallow, with a lot of the rooms starting at the front and finishing at the back. “It’s one of the things that Meghan and Harry love about it,” a friend said. “All that beautiful light coming in on both sides. The energy is just so good there.”
Being within the Windsor estate security zone provided the couple with the safety they desired for their new life outside of London, but extra provisions were made for the couple prior to their move. Mature trees were planted around Frogmore Cottage to keep out prying eyes (or lenses) that tried to catch a glimpse. Hi-tech laser fencing ensured that trespassers were kept at bay, too. It also helped that next door to their home was a separate building just for protection officers, hired from Scotland Yard’s Royalty and Specialist Protection branch, to be permanently based.
It was a much-needed ring of steel to keep the Sussex family safe, particularly after they were forced to move out of their Oxfordshire house early when Splash News (the same agency that was caught in Jamaica) sent a helicopter to take aerial photos of the house. The photos were so clear it was possible to see inside their master bedroom and living areas. In mid-January 2019, The Times of London ran one of the pictures, and many outlets followed. Harry was furious and Meghan crushed.
A source close to the couple said they immediately felt vulnerable, especially with Meghan being heavily pregnant. While the area was safe and protected, “being out in the middle of the countryside, where you don’t know who is out there at night or if someone has managed to sneak nearby” was enough for them to say goodbye to Oxfordshire. The original plan was to keep the house until the end of the lease and then potentially buy it. But they moved back to Nottingham Cottage, which felt even more cramped and uncomfortable, until Frogmore was ready. (Harry later sued Splash News, and on May 16, 2019, he received significant compensation, which he donated to charity, and an apology from the photo agency for the intrusion.)
In addition to the physical precautions at Frogmore, Harry and Meghan also began taking extra safety measures with digital information after they suffered a major data leak. On September 12, 2018, a computer programmer based in Russia managed to hack into an online cloud storage account that contained over two hundred unseen photos of Harry and Meghan that had been taken by the photographer Alexi Lubomirski.
Among the stolen images were pictures of the couple sharing personal moments during their engagement photo series as well as others from their wedding day reception (including some of the Queen). The large set also included outtakes with eyes half closed and other unflattering moments meant for the trash can. The hacker leaked a handful of the photos to Tumblr. Many fans assumed they were fake, photoshopped images, but behind the scenes there was concern at Kensington Palace when they received a tip about the security breach. Harry and Meghan “were alarmed to hear that it was so easy to get such personal files of theirs,” a source close to the couple said. “T
he whole situation was a wake-up call.”
According to a royal source, Frogmore also posed “logistical challenges” to the couple in their various initiatives. “They’re going to be away from their [Buckingham Palace] office,” the source said. “They’re both really hands-on in their work, so that’s difficult.”
Because of this connection to their work, Harry and Meghan planned to retain a London base in the future. They no longer used Nott Cott, which remained unoccupied after they vacated it.
There was ample precedent for the Sussexes to maintain two residences. William and Kate were gifted Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk by the Queen, but their primary residence was Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace. Prince Charles retained Clarence House as his official residence and Highgrove in Gloucestershire for weekends in the country. Similarly, Princess Anne retained a private Buckingham Palace apartment—as does Prince Andrew.
For the moment, though, the couple was firmly established in Frogmore, where for the final weeks of her pregnancy, starting in April, Meghan didn’t leave once. Her final trimester had been nothing but busy, with her four royal patronage announcements and back-to-back engagements, including attending the premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s TOTEM show at London’s Royal Albert Hall to raise money for Sentebale. And then on February 15, she flew from London to New York on a commercial British Airways flight.
This would be her first time in New York since getting married, and Meghan looked forward to five nights of shopping and good food with some of her closest and most loyal friends. Despite being a duchess, she was happy to crash at Misha Nonoo’s Greenwich Village duplex right next door to the celebrity hotspot Waverly Inn for the first three nights. Misha was now engaged to Hess oil heir, Michael Hess, whom she married in the fall.