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Meghan Markle fans slam article accusing 'patronising' duchess of 'bias' against white women

LONDON, ENGLAND - UNDATED: (NEWS EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO SALES, NO COMMERICAL USE. NO MERCHANDISING, ADVERTISING, SOUVENIRS, MEMORABILIA or COLOURABLY SIMILAR. NO CROPPING.)  Undated handout photo issued by Kensington Palace of The Duchess of Sussex, Patron of Smart Works, in the workroom of the Smart Works London office. Issue date: Sunday July 28, 2019. (Photo by @SussexRoyal/Kensington Palace via Getty Images)Copyright in the photograph is @SussexRoyal. Publications are asked to credit the photographs to: Copyright: @SussexRoyalNo charge should be made for the supply, release or publication of the photograph. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
The Duchess of Sussex is receiving backlash for guest-editing the September issue of British Vogue. [Photo: @SussexRoyal]

Words by Elena Sheppard.

Meghan Markle — who turned 38 on Sunday — has been accused of overlooking white women as guest editor of British Vogue’s September issue. Writer Camilla Tominey, who covers the royal family and politics for The Telegraph, is now being accused of promoting a “white supremacy mentality” by readers outraged by her complaint about the duchess’s choice to amplify women of colour in the UK magazine.

A quote from Tominey’s article, which was promoted via The Telegraph’s Twitter account, asks, “I wonder whether Meghan was conscious of the bias she showed in choosing 15 ‘forces for change’ for the Vogue cover, all of whom were women, of which only five were white?"

The line is a reference to Prince Harry’s feature in the issue of British Vogue, in which he spoke out against “unconscious bias” involving race.

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For reference, the women featured on the cover of Meghan’ss issue are activist and model Adwoa Aboah, model Adut Akech, boxer Ramla Ali, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, educator and advocate Sinead Burke, actress Gemma Chan, actress and LGBTQ advocate Laverne Cox, actress and political activist
Jane Fonda, actress Salma Hayek, ballerina Francesa Hayward, actress Jameela Jamil, writer Chimamanda Adichie, actress Yara Shahidi, environmental activist Greta Thunberg and model and maternity health activist Christy Turlington. Of the 15, Ardern, Burke, Turlington, Thunberg and Fonda are white.

Tominey’s article argues that this line-up of women is discriminatory, writing, “If I was pale, male and stale, I’d be feeling pretty discriminated against right now.”

People swiftly spoke out against the article and lambasted The Telegraph , calling both Tominey’s argument and the promotion of it racist.

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Edward Enninful, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief, has been a vocal proponent of diversifying magazine covers since his appointment in 2017.

Enninful told the New York Times that Meghan turned down the opportunity to be on this cover herself saying, “She wanted, instead, to focus on the women she admires. As you will see from her selections throughout this magazine, she is willing to wade into more complex and nuanced areas, whether they concern female empowerment, mental health, race or privilege.”

Tominey, did not subscribe to that vision, instead opening her article by writing, “May I make the following remarks without being accused of racism (either consciously or unconsciously)? Probably not.”

Tominey later replied to the backlash to her article with a tweet. She also accused Meghan of playing favourites with women with ties to the magazine’s advertisers.