'Meghan of Montecito' Graces The Cut's September Cover

With the release of Archetypes last week, I anticipated we would see at least a couple of appearances/interviews from Meghan to coincide with the promotion of the twelve-episode series which has stormed the Spotify charts globally. Interviews are particularly complex for the Sussexes because the publication, editor, producer or journalist will always want to delve deeper into Meghan's time in Britain and all that remains unsaid about her time there. I've said before, there's an enormous amount of hurt remaining, which I think is conveyed in this interview -- the description of the "bittersweet" return to Frogmore Cottage is illustrative. We hear about family life in Montecito, touching anecdotes, and insights into Archie's and Lili's personalities. The strength of Harry and Meghan's relationship, their Archewell work and the power of reclaiming her voice (she's even toying with the idea of rejoining Instagram). As Meghan says: "When the media has shaped the story around you, it’s really nice to be able to tell your own story." I wholly recommend reading the piece in its entirety (click here to do so). Allison P. Davis did a superb job with 'Meghan of Montecito', cutting through the relentless deluge of 'stories' we see daily to offer a window into the life of a woman "still healing" and a young family navigating new and unchartered terrain.

The interview features a stunning photoshoot by London-based, South-African born photographer Campbell Addy. The images show Meghan with minimal make up, her hair worn in a sleek updo in most of the pictures, while wearing a selection of black and white designs. We saw Meghan wearing a lot of neutral and monochrome looks during 2017-2019, and she's been favouring those choices again this year. There's a very sweet moment in the interview when Harry talks about the shoot, saying, "'Tell her the first thing you said when you got back last night,' before turning to Allison. 'She said, ‘I’m not a model.’ 'I was like, ‘No, you are, of course you can be a model.’ And she’s like, ‘I’m a mom!’ And it’s like, ‘You can be both.'"

“Do you want to know a secret?” Meghan asks The Cut. For our Fall Fashion issue, the Duchess opens up about her new freedom, her new podcast, and her charming new California life. https://t.co/VNU0VcEOsz

📷: @CampbellAddy pic.twitter.com/Xv3QXF8Hli

— The Cut (@TheCut) August 29, 2022

I've been on something of a social media hiatus over the summer and away from blogging more than I would like due to other commitments. I checked in today to see nothing has changed. The sphere of online royal watching remains toxic. Meghan recalls her own social media experiences during her time as a working member of the Royal family:

'Meghan was permitted to join Harry, Kate, and Will on a preexisting account, @KensingtonRoyal, that she had no control over. “There’s literally a structure by which if you want to release photos of your child, as a member of the family, you first have to give them to the Royal Rota,” the U.K. media pool, she explains. Usually, the photos would be on media outlets before she could post them herself. That didn’t sit right with Meghan, given her strained relationship with the British tabloids (“Harry’s girl is [almost] straight outta Compton” is how the Daily Mail introduced her to the British public), and especially since she would soon have a child of her own to protect. “Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” she asks, still ruffled. “You tell me how that makes sense and then I’ll play that game.”

Meghan is still very aware that people see her as a princess: “It’s important to be thoughtful about it… there are little girls that I meet and they’re just like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a real-life princess.’” https://t.co/VNU0VcEOsz

📷: @CampbellAddy pic.twitter.com/oGX1QTXFZe

— The Cut (@TheCut) August 29, 2022

If one has heard first-hand (as I have) the remarks, jibes and appalling behaviour of members of the media after the 2020 Commonwealth Service, it's not difficult to understand how she feels. In another part of the article (there's been a lot of commentary about this already so I thought it prudent to address it) Meghan talks about taking Archie to school. Allison writes: "Earlier in our conversation about her goals for the life she’s creating here, she’d remarked upon how, if Archie were in school in the U.K., she’d never be able to do school pickup and drop-off without it being a royal photo call with a press pen of 40 people snapping pictures. 'Sorry, I have a problem with that. That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy.'"

Whilst there is and most certainly would have been an expectation of Rota press for Archie and Lili's first day of school, there would not be a scenario where that would happen on other occasions owing to the Independent Press Standards Organisations codes on children's rights in school.  Allison didn't use a direct quote there, so it's possible Meghan was referring to the 'first day of school' photocall. That's not to say there wouldn't have been other issues such as paparazzi and lack of privacy, there very possibly would have been -- not to mention security concerns.

On returning to Frogmore:

'You go back and you open drawers and you’re like, Oh my gosh. This is what I was writing in my journal there? And here’s all my socks from this time?” The blue-and-white linen pants she’s wearing today were something from the cottage, actually: “They’re like $30 pants from Boden, and I brought them back.”

It was bittersweet, you know? Knowing none of it had to be this way.'

Her new podcast, Archetypes, discusses the ways women are unfairly labeled—an experience Meghan has been through herself and is finally ready to talk about. "It’s really nice to be able to tell your own story," she says. https://t.co/VNU0VcEOsz

📷: @CampbellAddy pic.twitter.com/3TEVt8So3L

— The Cut (@TheCut) August 29, 2022

Allison writes:

'They also thought it best to leave the U.K. (and the U.K. press) to do it. They were willing to go to basically any commonwealth, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, anywhere. “Anything to just … because just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy. So we go, ‘Okay, fine, let’s get out of here. Happy to,’ ” she says, putting her hands up in mock defeat. Meghan asserts that what they were asking for wasn’t “reinventing the wheel” and lists a handful of princes and princesses and dukes who have the very arrangement they wanted. “That, for whatever reason, is not something that we were allowed to do, even though several other members of the family do that exact thing.”

On forgiveness:

'I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive. But it takes a lot of effort to forgive. I’ve really made an active effort, especially knowing that I can say anything. I have a lot to say until I don’t. Do you like that? Sometimes, as they say, the silent part is still part of the song.'

On Archetypes and the excitement of her first release: "It’s so real. I feel different. I feel clearer. It’s like I’m finding — not finding my voice. I’ve had my voice for a long time, but being able to use it."

Now Meghan is flinging open the proverbial doors to her life; as any millennial woman whose feminism was forged in the girlboss era would understand, she has taken a hardship and turned it into content. https://t.co/VNU0VcEOsz

📷: @CampbellAddy pic.twitter.com/pmAc6TJGKj

— The Cut (@TheCut) August 29, 2022

Archie and Lili sound utterly adorable and these little nuggets are darling:

'“One of the first things my husband saw when we walked around the house was those two palm trees,” she coos. “See how they’re connected at the bottom? He goes, ‘My love, it’s us.’  And now every day when Archie goes by us, he says, ‘Hi, Momma. Hi, Papa.’ ” They had toured only the grounds when they told the real-estate agent, “We have to get this house,” Meghan says. 

We pull up to the house, and Archie leaps out. Harry is ending a phone call as Archie throws himself around his legs. Lilibet, unsmiling with watchful bright-blue eyes, is brought out by her nanny. She is small and also ginger, and when there is a small person in the room not smiling, it is a reflex to do anything to entertain them. Harry starts dancing to his own beatboxing, and Meghan bends down and joins in and then I find myself doing it too, until she gives a lopsided smile and we all realize it’s a bit strange to be bonding in this way.'

 As for Harry and Meghan? They are like salt and pepper, she says.

'"You never move one without the other." That’s me and Harry. We’re like salt and pepper. We always move together.'

Read @AllisonPDavis's profile for our Fall Fashion issue now: https://t.co/VNU0VcEOsz

— The Cut (@TheCut) August 29, 2022

The Duchess was styled by Jessica Willis for the shoot, with hair by Hos Hounkpatin, make-up by Edwin Sandoval, and tailoring by Susie Kourinian. On the cover, Meghan wore a colour-block tulle dress by Tory Burch from the Resort 2023 collection.

And accessorised with Lanvin brass and green strass Melodie earrings from the Resort 2023 collection.

In this photo, Meghan wears a sleek black gown with a deep V-neck by Bottega Veneta. It's accessorized with jewels from Mikimoto and Mateo.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Cut (@thecut)

I adore the Chanel Fantasy Tweed dress accessorized with Manolo Blahnik BB pumps and Sophie Buhai pearl earrings.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Cut (@thecut)

And last but not least, a custom made (very chic) white Proenza Schouler suit, worn with another pair of Manolo Blahnik BB pumps in 'white nappa leather' and Mateo half moon earrings with diamonds. 

Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, wears a custom Proenza Schouler off white bi-stretch crepe cinched jacket and pant for The Cut@TheCut #proenzaschouler #DuchessMeghan pic.twitter.com/nUZzkLXbfW

— Proenza Schouler (@proenzaschouler) August 29, 2022

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As you may have heard, the Sussexes have a new addition to their family in the form of seven-year-old beagle Mamma Mia!

The Los Angeles Times reports:

'Her changed life began in July when federal authorities rescued her — along with 4,000 other beagles — from overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at the Envigo breeding and research plant in Virginia.

“The duchess called me personally,” said Shannon Keith, an animal rights attorney who runs the Beagle Freedom Project out of the low-slung Valley Village house where she used to live. But Keith said that at first, she didn’t realize who the “VIP Donor” interested in a beagle adoption was.

They played in the backyard with Mia, who had been transported with eight of her newborn puppies from Maryland, where the dogs had been taken after the Virginia rescue, to Valley Village. But they did not want a puppy.

“The duchess is holding Mia and was like, ‘We’re adopting her,’” Keith said. “She was like ‘No, we don’t want a Christmas puppy. … We want ones we can help who are older.’”

There was one moment which really stuck out for me. As they were leaving Harry paused and asked: "Well, we can’t leave yet because there’s something in that back house she needs. Does she have a favorite toy or something?" It turned out there was a fox toy Mia played with which she wanted. Reassured Mia had something to take with her to her 'forever home, Harry said: "Now, we can go home."

The Sussexes recently adopted 7 year old beagle Mamma Mia. pic.twitter.com/t11HtPaEWA

— The Gold Standard™ #DontBelieveTheType (@InvictusbyPepp) August 24, 2022

We'll hear Meghan talking to Mariah Carey tomorrow on the second episode of Archetypes. Meanwhile, Serena begins her final major tournament tonight with the US Open. Might the Duchess make a surprise appearance?