Edward Enninful hasn’t been British Vogue’s editor in chief in over a year. He was phased out, allowed to step down as EIC with some grace, and he’s now the European editorial director of Conde Nast publications. Reportedly, Enninful made a play to dethrone Anna Wintour and he lost, so his punishment was being removed from British Vogue. Enninful’s tenure as EIC of British Vogue was notable for many reasons – he brought more diversity to the editorials AND the staff, he brought in a less stuffy vision, and many Black celebrities were more eager to pose for British Vogue.
In 2019, Enninful also successfully engineered the Duchess of Sussex’s “Forces for Change” cover and guest-editorship. Meghan didn’t pose on the cover, which is what Enninful offered her initially, but she wanted to guest-edit and highlight other women. That issue ended up being one of the most successful issues in British Vogue’s history. Enninful got a lot of the credit for it too, while Meghan got all of the criticism. Then, in 2020, Enninful made some controversial comments about how the British public reacted to Meghan, saying that what she faced wasn’t purely about racism. After that, Enninful spent several years sucking up to King Charles and the left-behinds, and it seemed like… he was making a choice. Well, now the Mail on Sunday has a (frankly ridiculous) exclusive on what really happened between Meghan and Enninful.
The Duchess of Sussex and the former editor of British Vogue, Edward Enninful, were once inseparable. So much so that Meghan recalled, after guest-editing the fashion bible six years ago, that they were ‘like-minded thinkers’ who enjoyed ‘philosophising’ over steaming cups of mint tea. Today, however, they are no longer on speaking terms – and the reason for the fallout has remained one of fashion’s most tightly guarded secrets.
But The Mail on Sunday can now reveal that their friendship imploded during a disagreement over how Vogue planned to feature a glossy showcase of Meghan and Prince Harry’s charitable work. The coverage, designed to tie in with Meghan’s keynote appearance at the One Young World Summit in Manchester in September 2022, would have involved extensive features across the magazine and its digital editions. But Conde Nast insiders claim it was abruptly pulled and scrapped completely.
A source said: ‘The duchess and her team had high expectations and were expecting she might get a print cover or at least a digital cover out of it, but Enninful was not able to meet those expectations. He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month.’ Shelving the project is said to have caused irreparable damage to their friendship. ‘Edward was furious to have lost the project, as were the powers that be at Conde Nast,’ a source told the MoS.
‘The whole process became very difficult. Edward could only promise her a big showy feature inside the magazine and online – but she turned it down.’
According to insiders, the project needed a full production team including photographers, videographers, stylists and editors to shoot exclusive images and film an in-depth video feature with the Sussexes. Sources claim that after Mr Enninful explained he had another cover in mind, Meghan’s team had asked if the couple could feature on Vogue’s special digital cover instead, which is released alongside the print edition. But again, it is understood that Mr Enninful declined.
‘He didn’t think it was appropriate to give her the cover,’ the source explained. It was then that Meghan’s team pulled the plug. Relations between the pair never recovered. Sources add that during the years that followed Mr Enninful has increased his public involvement with the Royal Family, and claim this is not something Meghan could easily overlook, particularly as he was initially supportive of her now-infamous ‘Megxit’ Oprah interview in 2021.
Mr Enninful follows all three of the King’s charitable organisations on Instagram – but tellingly, does not follow Meghan or any of her enterprises. She was also said not to have been invited to a glittering black-tie gala in New York earlier this month for The King’s Trust, which was hosted by Mr Enninful and held at Casa Cipriani’s grand ballroom in New York. Guests included Lionel Richie, Heidi Klum, Helena Christensen and British businesswoman Charlotte Tilbury. But Meghan, who attended Beyonce and James Taylor concerts in the past two weeks, was not on the list, sources say. ‘There is no way she was invited,’ said a source. ‘That was Edward’s American celebrity alternative to the Met Gala.’
If some of this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because they claimed something similar last year, when Meghan was not part of Enninful’s last British Vogue cover, in which he featured 40 “legends.” The same “insiders” were full of gossip about how Meghan turned him down or he turned down Meghan or whatever. Here’s what’s interesting to me: “Edward was furious to have lost the project, as were the powers that be at Conde Nast.” So… he was furious to lose the project where he reportedly turned down Meghan for a cover? You can’t have it both ways – either Meghan wasn’t important enough for a cover and you were right to turn her down OR she was so important that Conde Nast executives were furious that they couldn’t get the exclusive?
Be real – EVERY magazine wanted and still wants Meghan for their cover. I can only imagine how many covers she’s turned down over the years. In my opinion, that’s what this was – this was Meghan turning down an offer of something (feature or cover) from Enninful and he was mad so he made it seem like she was being a diva and “demanding” a cover. I also wonder if Meghan and Enninful fell out before 2022 – back in 2020 and 2021, he was already sucking up to the Windsors. He made his choices.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
