Is Meghan Markle or Harry or both considering a political career in the United States? Anything is possible…
According to The Sun, Meghan and Harry secretly held an hour-long video call with California Governor Gavin Newsroom, a top democrat, on October 19. Although the details are not out, it is being speculated that after months of laying low in California the royal power couple Meghan and Harry are moving closer to realising their political dreams.
Royal Pair’s Political Royalty
It is pretty clear that Meghan and Harry support the Democratic Party.
In 2016, Meghan Markle made her political opinions known when she openly backed Hillary Clinton for president. On The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, she commented: “You’re not just voting for a woman if it’s Hillary. Yes, you’re voting because she’s a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting”.
In 2019, Meghan and Harry hired Sara Latham, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign advisor, as the new head of their communications team. Latham, who worked as special assistant to the chief of staff during President Bill Clinton’s second term, also led the political strategy and execution for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
A couple of months later, Hillary Clinton praised Meghan for being “an amazing young woman”. In a joint interview on BBC Radio 5 Live alongside her daughter Chelsea, Clinton said: “I feel as a mother I just want to put my arms around her. Oh my God, I want to hug her. I want to tell her to hang in there, don’t let those bad guys get you down, keep going, do what you think is right.”
Meghan joined Michelle Obama’s virtual couch party to “increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap” on August 20, 2020, to mark the 100-year anniversary of the 19th amendment (which gave a few American women the right to vote; women of color were given their right decades later).
Meanwhile, Harry has a personal relationship with U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden. The Bidens support Harry’s charity sports tournament for injured and wounded service personnel and veterans, the Invictus Games, which he founded in 2014. The 46th U.S. President and First Lady worked closely on military issues with Harry during their tenure as Vice President and Second Lady during Barack Obama’s presidency.
Political Opinions In Sync With Democrats
When Meghan, an outspoken advocate for both gender equality and racial equality, married Prince Harry in 2018, she had to tone down her political opinions to fall in line with royal neutrality (British Royals largely refrain from discussing political affairs). But once she and Harry stepped down as senior royals and moved to the U.S., she started speaking out again.
“She’s doing everything that’s appropriate and allowed given her new position but she’s definitely putting her toe in the water. And once your toe is in the water your whole foot is in and next thing you know you are knee-deep and then you are fully in,” Mike Trujillo, Democratic Strategist, told The Times.
From encouraging Americans to vote in the 2020 presidential elections to inexplicitly supporting Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden (the duo branded Donald Trump a “misogynist” and “divisive”), from urging Americans to refrain from “hate speech” to slamming social media platforms for the role they played in the January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection, it is evident that Meghan and Harry may be gearing up for their political careers in the U.S.
Glamour, Activism, & Politics: A Win-Win For All?
Meghan and Harry have clear advantages of being a mixed-race progressive couple. As the Black Lives Matter movement gains traction in the United States, Meghan (a Hollywood actress who has personally experienced racism growing up) would want to use her voice for change — and that could involve politics.
Katie Nicholl, a royal expert, says the duo are actively looking into how they can work with the Black Lives Matter movement. “The Black Lives Matter movement matters to Meghan and it matters to Harry. And I understand that this is going to be an area where we’re going to see the couple doing a lot more work and taking a lot more interest,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
In 2019, Nick Bullen, a multi-award-winning television producer who has been making programs about the British royal family for 20 years, released a documentary titled “Meghan for President?” Whether or not Meghan would ever run for office, she does want to make a difference, claimed the documentary.
“One of the things we found was back at the age of about 10 when she was in her school in Hollywood, she organized a protest against the Gulf War because a little boy in her class, his older brother, was going to fight. And this little boy was really upset and worried. Meghan wanted to make him feel better. So, she organized this campaign against the war,” Bullen added.
Did Meghan retain her American citizenship to keep her option to go into politics alive? Her biographer Omid Scobie has previously claimed Meghan is indeed eyeing the White House saying, “She has her eyes set on the U.S. presidency. Meghan is the embodiment of the American dream. One day we may see Meghan become president.”
Watch: Will Meghan Markle run for Presidency?
However, if Meghan and Harry do decide to step into the political arena, it could have an impact on the brand they are building together. Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, warns:
“I think she has alienated many Americans who look at her as having attacked President Trump. If she enters politics that would further suffocate the audience potential for Meghan and Harry and could have a humbling effect to their revenue stream. That is like asking for a war with a part of America at a time when they want to build their brand and create a level of interest as producers and as entertainment creators. Republicans will see Meghan and Harry as part of the out-of-touch celebrity elite or those actors that are suddenly primadonnas of Hollywood and now want to pontificate about politics.”
