Graydon Carter, the former editor of Vanity Fair magazine who was in charge when Meghan Markle appeared on the cover in 2017, has taken aim at the Duchess of Sussex and revealed what happened behind the scenes when she was interviewed for the publication

The former editor of Vanity Fair has spoken out about working with Meghan Markle (Image: Getty Images

Meghan Markle has been criticised as being “adrift on reality” by a former editor of Vanity Fair magazine, who has lifted the lid on what it was like to work with her. Graydon Carter, who was at the helm of the glossy magazine for 25 years, put the Duchess of Sussex on the front of the publication back in 2017 before she became engaged to Prince Harry.

She was one of the last stars to appear on the cover before he stepped down as editor with the cover story titled ‘She’s just wild about Harry’. In a new interview reflecting on his time at the magazine, Mr Carter admitted he had no idea who Meghan was at the time and was convinced to put her on the cover when told by a colleague that she was probably going to end up marrying Harry.

Meghan on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2017 (Image: Vanity Fair )

And revealing what happened when she was interviewed for the cover story, he says Meghan thought the publication should be more interested in her charity work when asked about Harry. He told the New York Post that Meghan said: “Excuse me, Is this going to all be about Prince Harry? Because I thought we were going to be talking about my charities and my philanthropy.”

Mr Carter said, “This woman is slightly adrift on the facts and reality.” Elsewhere in the interview, the editor, who was also friends with the late Princess Diana, gave his take on what she would have made of Harry and Meghan’s feud with the royals.

He said: “I would think she would feel great sorrow for her son to have been pulled away from his family like this, especially his brother but also his father. Anytime someone comes between siblings that’s a disaster, horrible for a family.” Meghan’s cover story with Vanity Fair caused shockwaves, and reportedly “alarm bells to ring” at the Palace.

According to the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden, this cover, which came two months before her engagement to Harry, raised eyebrows. A source previously told him: “It was like a punch to the solar plexus. We do not expect friends of members of the Royal Family to give such interviews.”

The cover was released just two months before Harry and Meghan revealed their engagement (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The source explained that both Princess Kate and Princess Diana waited until their engagements had been announced before giving any interviews, which were then set up by royal officials with strict conditions. The source added: “While people were pleased that Harry had found a serious girlfriend, the article did set alarm bells ringing. It made people worry that Miss Markle was seeking to use the relationship for publicity purposes.”

However, it seems that Meghan herself was also not happy with the published article, according to a book. Respected former Times royal correspondent Valentine Low writes in his book Courtiers that Meghan hated the piece and was furious with her PR rep as she did not like the photos, and thought the story was negative and focused too much on Harry.

It is also claimed she viewed the headline on the cover as ‘racist’. The book says: “She and Harry pointed out that the song, ‘I’m Just Wild About Harry’, had been performed by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney as a blackface number in the 1939 film Babes in Arms. ‘They [Harry and Meghan] tried to get it changed online, because [they thought] it had been racially motivated,’ said the source.

Mr Carter’s comments come just months after his former magazine ran a brutal takedown of the Sussexes. They faced face a string of claims in the scathing cover story in Vanity Fair headlined ‘American Hustle’, which delves into their post-royal lives, five years after they dramatically quit their royal roles.

The report includes yet more troubling claims about what it’s allegedly like to work for the couple, with the Sussexes said to have denied the ‘distressing’ allegations. It comes just months after a piece in the Hollywood Reporter claimed Meghan had been labelled ‘Duchess Difficult’. However, in the days after the piece, current and former employees of the Sussexes spoke out in defence of working for Meghan in US Weekly magazine.