It has gone down in history as one of the most iconic issues of British Vogue ever and for good reason.

When Meghan Markle guest edited Vogue in September 2019 it became the fastest selling copy of the magazine in 103 years and sold out in just 10 days.

Despite breaking this record, it will likely be most remembered for the eye-catching cover which featured 15 women – including climate activist Greta Thunberg and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

They were women the Duchess of Sussex believed would bring big changes to society as well as a small reflective square so the reader could see themselves.

But, interestingly, Meghan herself did not appear on the cover. Instead there were a few small working photographs of Meghan inside the magazine alongside interviews with Michelle Obama and conservationist Jane Goodall – which Prince Harry conducted.

Writing in his bestseller, titled Battle of the Brothers, royal insider Robert Lacey claims that Meghan’s decision not to be featured on the cover caused ‘spikiness’ with Vogue.

Lacey wrote:'”Forces for CHANGE” would be the headline splashed across the glossy cover in luminous orange type – with the word “CHANGE” standing out particularly strongly, and not a photograph of Meghan in sight. That was another spikiness.

‘Publishers Conde Nast had anticipated a sexy and commercial cover photo of their royal guest-editor  that would help them to sell tens of thousands of copies, as they had frequently done in the past.

But Meghan had demurred. It would be “boastful” to put her own face on the cover, she felt.’

The publishers concerns proved unfounded once it hit newsstands across the country and quickly sold out.

However for all the love and fanfare surrounding the magazine, backlash against the so-called ‘Markle manifesto’ soon followed.

On social media many people were quick to criticise the choice of cover stars with many asking why the late Queen Elizabeth II was not included. Especially considering Elizabeth had graced the cover of Time magazine multiple times and was named one of the most influential people in the world in a May 2007 issue.

Others asked why non-celebrities – such as doctors or teachers – were not on the cover.

Writing for the Daily Mail at the time, broadcaster Piers Morgan also attacked the ‘virtue signalling’ celebrities on the front page.

‘Just as ridiculous was the image of a mirror on the cover, tucked in between all the multi-millionaires,’ he added.

‘”A mirror was included so that when you hold the issue in your hands, you see yourself as part of this collective,” the Sussex Royal account writes.

‘Oh pur-lease. Pass the sick bucket.’

And questions were raised over why the Duchess only carried out 22 royal engagements in the seven months she spent as an unpaid guest editor. Which included missing President Donald Trump’s state visit in May 2019.

Lacey said: ‘In the same seven months, January to July 2019, the Court Circular showed the Duchess of Sussex carrying out just 22 royal engagements, less than one per week, though this period did include Meghan’s maternity leave, along with a three-day tour to Morocco with Harry.

‘But why had this “powerhouse” recruit to the highest echelons of the House of Windsor spent seven months labouring so intensively on behalf of British Vogue – entirely unremunerated it must be emphasised again – while doing hardly any public work at all for the British Royal Family?’

Despite these criticisms Meghan still had her fans, chiefly Edward Enninful the then editor of British Vogue.

Lacey wrote: ‘Edward Enninful was overwhelmed by the onrushing energy of his guest-editor.

‘”I can’t overstate”, he wrote, “how much it meant to me to see HRH The Duke of Sussex marry the brilliant, bi-racial, American powerhouse. I simply never imagined that, in my lifetime, someone of my colour would – or could – enter the highest echelons of our Royal Family”.’

But in May, the Daily Mail revealed that two years after she guest edited Vogue,  Anna Wintour ‘banned’ the duchess from appearing on the cover of British Vogue in September 2022 after the magazine boss became ‘frustrated with all the Duchess of Sussex’s team’s micromanaging’, according to a source.

Meghan had been set to appear on the cover of British Vogue at the same time as her keynote appearance at the One Young World Summit in Manchester in September 2022.

But Conde Nast insiders claim it was abruptly pulled and scrapped completely.

An insider told the Daily Mail that Meghan was being ‘difficult about making it a cover’ and her team were ‘insisting on particular straplines’.

She then found herself at loggerheads with not only the editor of British Vogue, Edward Enninful, but the Queen of fashion magazines Anna Wintour.

The insider said: ‘Anna heard about it, and just like banned her and said, “That’s it. We don’t want to do this”.

‘And so she didn’t get the cover, and I guess she didn’t even get the story. [Edward Enninful] probably agreed with Anna that you don’t get to call the shots on who’s on the cover. That’s absolutely an Editor’s decision.

‘Anna was p***** off. Anna was like frustrated with all the micromanaging, and just was like, “All right. That’s it. She can’t have the cover and we’re not doing the story”.’

The source added that Meghan’s ‘level of desire for detail and control on the media is almost like Beyoncé level… but she’s not Beyoncé.’

However, the Duchess is said to have been relaxed with ‘no expectations’ but her team had ‘high expectations for the piece’ in Vogue.

‘Enninful was not in a position to meet those expectations. He already had a magazine cover in the bag for that month,’ Conde Nast insiders told the Mail On Sunday.

Shelving the project is said to have damaged Enninful and the Duchess’ friendship. ‘Edward was furious to have lost the project, as were the powers that be at Conde Nast,’ a source told the MoS.

Sources claim that Meghan’s team had hoped the couple could feature on a special digital cover Vogue, which is released alongside the print edition.

But again, it is understood that Enninful declined. ‘He didn’t think it was appropriate to give her the cover,’ the source explained.

He had been one of Meghan’s most staunchest supporters after her now-infamous ‘Megxit’ Oprah interview in 2021.

He defended the Duchess, calling her a ‘brave woman’ and describing the treatment of her as ‘very unfair’ and ‘harsh’.

But he said he ‘wouldn’t just blame it on racism’, adding: ‘I think sometimes it takes a minute to understand the rules.’ Whether he would defend her again today is another matter.

Sources close to Meghan deny that she ever sought a Vogue cover and say she had been invited to appear.

But while Meghan might have fallen out of favour in Anna Wintour’s court, the titan of fashion has now stepped down as the editor-in-chief of Vogue after 37 years and the Duchess of Sussex might find a new ally in the new editor Chloe Malle.

Chloe, 39, is the daughter of French actress Candice Bergen and the late filmmaker Louis Malle and was formerly the head of Vogue.com, having steadily risen up the ranks since she first joined the magazine in 2011.

Most interestingly, Chloe is one of Meghan’s 4.1million followers on Instagram suggesting that the Duchess of Sussex could one day grace the cover of Vogue after her years out in the cold.