It has been a busy week for the Duchess of Sussex. First the trailer of With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration shows her literally rocking around the Christmas tree ahead of its release on Netflix in December. Then she “meets her moment” on the December cover of Harper’s Bazaar US, with accompanying behind-the-scenes video of Meghan, hair loosely pulled back, bare feet, nearly bare face (what’s called “no make-up make-up” by an industry that would recoil from an actual bare face) and a low-key, relatable working-mum wardrobe of shirts, trousers and a trench coat — from The Row, Brunello Cucinelli and Celine, where each one would cost more than a hundred batches of preserves would.
The December cover of Harper’s Bazaar US
MALICK BODIAN/HARPER’S BAZAAR
MALICK BODIAN/HARPER’S BAZAAR
So far, so big news for millennials. Because the Bazaar interviewer sets up Meghan, 44, as a spokeswoman for my generation, who are, the writer says, “hated by our elders for our generational insistence on authenticity and social justice, derided by those younger for our earnest belief that the world is capable of change — what Gen Z has labelled ‘cringe’.” I’m 37, and after reading this I’m not sure Gen Y are going to beat the allegations.
“How do powerful women flex? Do they lead with deference or dominance? Meghan seems to lead with affability,” the interviewer notes. While waiting for the affability, we’re transported to “a grand brownstone on the Upper East Side that belongs to one of Meghan’s friends”. Which isn’t a flex — if Meghan’s friends happen to own grand brownstones, that isn’t showing off, it’s just authenticity. “When I enter, the house manager announces, ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’, even though we appear to be the only other two people in the house.”
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MALICK BODIAN/HARPERS BAZAAR
Later, apropos of nothing but probably just more off-the-cuff proof of affability, “Meghan tells me that she’ll be having lunch soon with Gloria Steinem, or Glo, as she calls her.” No further details are given, but possibly they will talk about all the learning and growing that has happened while Meghan has been doing the work, as we therapy speak-mad millennials call it. “The first problem … is not to learn, but to unlearn,” Gloria Steinem — or Glo, as the lifelong activist must love being called — once said. Perhaps they’ll brainstorm another TV special, “With Love, Meghan: Growing and Learning (and Unlearning) with Glo”.
They dip into working motherhood. “When I ask Meghan what she hopes her kids see when they see her working, she tells me, ‘I hope they see the value of being brave. They saw it when the jam was just a pot on the stove, bubbling.’”
Nothing says bravery like launching a brand with just the support of your prince husband and only your very close, dearest friends to shore you up if you fail. (Although perhaps it helps if some of those friends are oligarchs; the Sussexes were hobnobbing with the Bezoses and Zuckerbergs at Kris Jenner’s birthday party last week.) But the Sussex children, aged four and six, will need bravery if they’re to “face things that feel completely insurmountable every day”, which Meghan says they do, without listing the insurmountable things for us, but I’m sure I can think of a million insurmountable hurdles for the next generation of the original nepo babies, royals.
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Then there’s the millennial parenting style. Most of my friends ricochet between gentle and screaming when their child’s scooter veers too close to the road. Meghan “has made it a study, using books and apps, a diligence that has made her an authority within her friend circle. ‘She’s just so smart, and I feel like no matter what, I can always learn from her,’ says [Serena] Williams.” Perhaps 2026 will bring us a “With Love, Meghan: Raising Little Princes” parenting special.
At least she’s not going through this alone. “She puts her hand on her heart when she talks about her husband. ‘He loves me so boldly, fully…’.” I black out temporarily, my head overloaded by the thought of the Instagram posts this will inspire. With Harry, Meghan explains, “You have someone who just has this childlike wonder and playfulness.” Imagining the reactions at Forest Lodge this morning — it’s enough to bring a tear to your eye.