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Meghan Markle Has Landed the Biggest Blow to the British Since George Washington


Earlier this week, Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, dealt the greatest blow to the British crown since George Washington. In fact, she has may have implemented an even better plan of attack than he did. Washington lost more battles than he won, costing Americans a great deal of time, money, and lives—and he waged his war of Independence on American soil. Meghan launched her surprise attack on British rule abroad without a single loss of life.

Frankly, I’m impressed, and I suspect Washington would be, too. He loved an inside job. As I learned writing my Washington biography, You Never Forget Your First, he made up for his losses on the battlefield by embracing espionage and winning in the court of public opinion.

It was frustrating to see the connection go unnoticed in the hours after the announcement, when those in search of historical echoes focused on Prince Harry and his great-great-uncle Edward VIII, who famously abdicated the throne in order to marry Wallis Simpson, another American divorcée. But those throne watchers would do well to remember that Harry now ranks sixth in the line of succession—much farther from the seat of power than Edward was. Plus, the royal family rejected Simpson in 1936. Some of them seem to have since learned their lesson, publicly embracing Meghan in 2017. Prince Harry might have been just another royal stifled under the weight of his family’s expectations. But Meghan? She’s a revolutionary for the modern age.

A mixed-race American actress, Meghan was an unlikely candidate to instigate this unprecedented break with the royal family, just as Washington was once a reluctant rebel. At first, both tried hard to make it work with the royal family under rather unfavorable conditions, hoping their loyalty and obedience would lead to greater compromise and parity.

The Duchess embraced her new country, and met many of its expectations. Meghan—who majored in theater and international relations at Northwestern—gave up her career, had a publicly televised wedding, and paraded her newborn baby in front of cameras when she probably wished she was still in her bathrobe. Perhaps in exchange she thought she could make a few stipulations of her own. But the Crown doesn’t bargain, and neither does the British press. They demand. “I never thought it would be easy,” Meghan said in the documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, but I thought it would be fair.”

Back in the 1700s, so did Washington. As a young man raised in colonial Virginia, he fought for the British military and became their most famous colonist, but that didn’t mean he was paid as much as the British-born soldiers or given the same rank. And yet, he kept at it, believing that his superiors would surely see the error of their ways and recognize that colonists didn’t deserve to be second-class subjects. It never happened. Eventually, a case of dysentery took him to Alexandria, Virginia, and a great match was made; Washington traded in the military for a rich bride and tried to live a relatively quiet life, but the British continued to thwart him at every turn. They often gave him “privileges” like elected office, land, and the ability to farm it, only to take them away. For a while, he sent “humble and dutiful letters” to the Crown, but after a couple of decades, Washington was done waiting for his pleas to be heard. He lasted a lot longer than Meghan—but he wasn’t a black woman living in Britain.

When the time came, the Crown was not prepared for the Declaration of Independence. Over two centuries later, the insubordinance came as no less of a surprise—and this time via social media. In both instances, the impulse was to get a handle on the crisis. In 1776, the Royal Navy sailed into to British New York with hundreds of ships to swiftly quell a rebellion of subjects, not to fight a war against a sovereign nation with a general of their very own. Parliament even offered Washington a pardon for his insolence, but refused to call him by his military title. In 2020, Buckingham Palace didn’t even have to cross an ocean to issue a hastily crafted, infantilizing response to Wednesday’s Instagram announcement (which tasted a little undercooked itself): “Discussions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”



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The Most Powerful Images From the Kavanaugh Protests in Washington, D.C.



[unable to retrieve full-text content]Thousands of women took to the streets on Saturday to protest the impending confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.



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A Tale of Two Cities: A Snapshot of Washington D.C. On the Historic Kavanaugh-Ford Hearing Day


One city, two worlds. Or maybe even three.

In the nation’s rain-slicked capital, fans and foes of Brett Kavanaugh spent much of Thursday fixated on the Senate confirmation hearings that could help tip his chances of becoming the next Supreme Court justice.

Women in parts of D.C. proudly wore red, white, and blue “Confirm Kavanaugh” pins with the judge’s smiling face at the center.

But blocks away, women in black—and sometimes in tears—empathized and identified with Christine Blasey Ford, the college professor who came to Washington to testify that a blind-drunk Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high-school party in the 80’s.

And elsewhere, America’s center of power kept doing business, perhaps too busy, uninterested, or preoccupied to drop everything and glue themselves to the television screens beaming out a stunning moment in U.S. history. It’s a divide, not necessarily caused by apathy, but in many cases because the financial pressures and time demands on working people are too urgent.

Glamour traveled to Washington to get a panoramic view of those parallel worlds and match them up with the clock—which is rushing toward a decision on Kavanaugh’s fate:

8:54 A.M. – Washington artist Susan Prolman stands outside Union Station with a poster she designed that depicts a statue of Lady Justice holding her sword and scales, framed by the words, “Grab Her By the Pussy.” Prolman says she made the sign because she is “opposed to Donald Trump, our sexual ‘predator-in-chief’s’ nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”

9:11 A.M. – A pro-Kavanaugh rally organized by groups including Independent Women’s Forum and Concerned Women for America is well underway at a grassy park near the Russell Senate Office Building.

A mixed-gender crowd listens to speakers, gathering in support of the judge while sporting “I Stand With Brett” t-shirts and waving printed “Confirm Kavanaugh” signs. One bright yellow handmade placard demands: “Stop the Con Game.”

Patrice Onwuka, 36, a senior policy analyst for IWF, tells Glamour her group takes “allegations of sexual assault very seriously. No woman should be raped or molested or touched against her will. She should be able to get justice. She should be able to get closure. She should even be able to get heard.” However, Onwuka continues, “we also take seriously the idea of due process, and the bedrock principle in our criminal justice system of the presumption of innocence.”

10:05 A.M. – C-SPAN begins broadcasting from the Senate Judiciary Committee proceedings.

10:32 A.M. – Ford is prepared to begin her testimony.

“I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school” – Dr. Ford

10:41 A.M. – Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) visits Ford supporters—many publicly identifying themselves as sexual assault survivors—who are gathered in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building. She pauses to tell Glamour that she considers the Republican rushing of the confirmation process to be disrespectful to assault survivors.

11:15 A.M. – Joy Gerhard, 34, is comforted by women around her as she weeps while Ford’s testimony continues. Inked on her left arm is a series of dates: Those numbers, she says, represent each time she was subjected to sexual violence, starting in childhood. Gerhard tells Glamour she felt compelled to come to D.C. from her home in Seattle, as painful as the hearings are for her.

“Ever since Anita Hill testified, we know what it looks like when a woman goes in front of this committee,” Gerhard says, brushing away tears. “The fact that Dr. Ford knew what she was getting herself into, and chose to do it anyway, I… She must have a spine of steel or something, but it didn’t seem right for her to do this by herself.”

11:20 A.M. – Ford testifies during questioning that the most vivid memory she has of her alleged assault is the laughter from Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge.

“What is the strongest memory you have, the strongest memory of the incident…something you cannot forget?” asked Senator Patrick Leahy (D–Vt.). “Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two. And their having fun at my expense,” she replied.

12:43 P.M. – The city’s Metrobus system notifies commuters that “Due to downed wires at River Rd & Burdette Rd, buses may experience delays in both directions.”

2:00 P.M. – A major conference at American University features a workshop that encourages attendees to “share experiences from leading civil society organizations using different procedures to challenge unmerited patents and/or applications as a key strategy for improving access to affordable medicines.”

2:15 P.M. – Before her testimony ends, Ford says that if she knew when Mark Judge worked at a Potomac, Md. Safeway grocery store, she could pin down the date of her alleged assault. (Ford says she ran into Judge some weeks after that 1982 assault).

“It would be helpful … to figure out when he worked there, if people are wanting more details from me about when the attack occurred. If we could find out when he worked there, then I could provide a more detailed timeline as to when the attack occurred.”

2:28 P.M. – At Cafe Bliss on 2nd Street NE, business is quiet. The orderboard announces the day’s special as a bagel, croissant, or multigrain bread with a choice of toppings for $3.99. There’s no television on; a small speaker is booming Franz Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821.

3:18 P.M. – Kavanaugh’s testimony has begun; he maintains his denial of the sexual assault allegations lodged against him.

“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election,” he said. “Fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.”

“I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school, not in college, not ever. Sexual assault is horrific.”

4:00 P.M. – Not far from the Hart building, The Veterans of Foreign Wars holds a ceremony to receive one of the U.S. flags that draped the cases of the remains of American servicemembers repatriated from North Korea.

4:50 P.M. – Kavanaugh questioning continues. In a display of anger, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), accuses committee Dems of trying to “destroy this guy’s life.”

“What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020.”

“This is not a job interview. This is hell.” – Sen. Graham

He continued: “Boy, you all want power, God, I hope you never get it,” he said. “I hope the American people can see through this sham. That you knew about it and you held it.”

The White house rushes to defend Graham.

5:38 P.M. – Rush hour traffic builds up and the District is growing darker and rainier. At a pub not far from where Kavanaugh continues to face the senators, patrons’ attention is split between reading the subtitles on coverage of the hearings, checking out the latest on Tiger Woods on ESPN, a live sports radio broadcast at the back of the room, and happy-hour chatter.

6:23 P.M. – Rachel Kinsey, 36, took a break from the accounting firm she runs and came to Washington from Woodstock, Georgia to support Ford: “She was calm, cool, and collected [and] answered questions directly,” Kinsey says of Ford, while not giving Kavanaugh that positive a review.

6:48 P.M. – The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing adjourns. Their vote on recommending Kavanaugh to the full Senate for confirmation is scheduled for Friday.

Celeste Katz is senior politics reporter for Glamour. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.





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Families Belong Together March: Watch Incredible Speeches by Diane Guerrero, Kerry Washington, America Ferrera, and More


Tens of thousands gathered across the U.S. for Families Belong Together marches on Saturday, which took place in over 700 locations, including Boston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. According to CNN, protesters organized around three main tenets: that families separated at the U.S. border be reunited immediately, that the government end family detention, and that President Donald Trump’s administration discontinue its zero-tolerance immigration policy.

A number of high-profile figures—including celebrities, politicians, and activists—took to the stage at various Families Belong Together marches to share their own stories of immigration and calls for change. America Ferrera spoke as a child of Honduran immigrants; Diane Guerrero shared her experience, having been separated from her family as a child; a 12-year-old named Leah opened up about her fears of losing her mom to deportation. Read on for some of the most poignant speeches from various events across the country.

Diane Guerrero in Washington, D.C.

“I am here today as a woman who as a young child was separated from her family,” Guerrero, who’s appeared on Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, told the crowd in Washington, D.C. “I am here today to be painfully honest about the damage these government policies do to human beings, do to kids. Even some 17 years later, I can still remember how it felt when I first cried out for my parents and they couldn’t answer. I have to believe that this an opportunity to rise above the tyranny, the ignorance, the malpractice and believe in change. This is a chance for us to come together as a nation and rise above division and fear. Only then can we stop the separation of families and stop the policies that place children in cages.”

Rep. Maxine Waters in Los Angeles

“How dare you?” Waters asked the Trump administration, in California. “How dare you take the babies from mothers’ arms? How dare you take the children and send them all across the country into so-called detention centers?”

“You are putting them in cages. You are putting them in jails,” the congresswoman continued. “And you think we’re going to stand by and allow you to do that? I don’t think so. Donald Trump, you think you can get away with everything, but you have gone too far when you are trying to break up families in the way that you do.”

Leah in Washington, D.C.

“I am here today because the government is separating and detaining refugee parents and children at the border who are looking for safety,” the 12-year-old said. “Our government also continues to separate U.S. citizen children like me from their parents every day. This is evil. It needs to stop. It makes me sad to know that children can’t be with their parents. I don’t understand why they’re being so mean to us children. Don’t they know how much we love our family? Don’t they have a family too? Why don’t they care about us children?”

“I live with the constant fear of losing my mom to deportation,” she continued. “My mom is strong, beautiful, and brave. She is also a person who taught me how to speak up when I see things that aren’t fair.”

“ICE wants to take away my mom from me. I don’t like to live with this fear,” Leah told the crowd. “It’s scary. I can’t sleep, I can’t study, I am stressed,” she told the crowd.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Boston

“The President’s deeply immoral actions have made it obvious: We need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom, starting by replacing ICE with something that reflects our morality and that works,” Warren said in her speech.

“President Trump seems to think the only way to have immigration rules is rip parents from their families, is to treat rape victims and refugees like terrorists and to put children in cages,” she told her constituents. “This is ugly, this is wrong, and this is not the way to run our country.”

America Ferrera in Washington, D.C.

“I am here not only as a brand new mother, as the proud child of Honduran immigrants and not only an American who sees it as her duty to be here defending justice,” the actress said. “I am here as a human being with a beating heart, who can feel pain, who understands compassion and who can easily imagine what it must feel like to struggle the way families are struggling right now. It is easy to imagine that I would hope that if it was my family being torn apart, if it was my brother being arbitrarily criminalized, if it was my sister who was being banned, that someone would stand up for me and my family.”

She continued: “It is that simple. This fight does not belong to one group of people, one color of people, one race of people, one gender — it belongs to all of us. What makes humans remarkable is our capacity to imagine. We have an imagination, let’s use it.”

Ferrara also read a letter from a grandfather who wants his separated granddaughter, who’s currently being held in Texas, to be able to live with him in California: “I got the impression the investigator thought I didn’t make enough money. I know I don’t make enough money, but I make enough to care for (you). Everything I have I will give to you.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda in Washington, D.C.

The Hamilton creator sang a lullaby for the kids separated from their parents to the crowd.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen in Los Angeles

“Making America great doesn’t mean building walls to keep people out; it means continuing to embrace the dreams of immigrants who add to our culture, our economy, and our humanity,” Teigen told the crowd while holding her son, Miles, before introducing her husband, John Legend. “Making America greater most definitely doesn’t mean turning asylum-seekers away or kidnapping their kids to turn them away from coming here.”

Legend performed a new song, “Preach,” which he introduced with a speech. He said: “If you’re committed to this kind of love, it means you believe in justice, but it’s not easy. It’s not a passive activity, it requires you opening your eyes to injustice. To see the world through the eyes of another you’ve got to read; you’ve got to travel to other neighborhoods and other parts of the world. You may have to get your hands dirty. You can’t just talk about it or tweet about it. You’ve got to do something.”

Alicia Keys in Washington, D.C.

“My seven-year-old son is here with me today. His name is Egypt. And I couldn’t even imagine not being able to find him,” Keys said. “I couldn’t even imagine being separated from him or scared about how he is being treated, so this is all of our fight, because if it can happen to any child, it can happen to my child and your child and all of our children.”

She continued by reading a letter from a mom who was separated from her child, which said, in part: “I had spent nights without sleep, searching and searching for my son, not knowing where he was, a torture day by day.”

“Our democracy is at stake,” Keys said, after finishing the letter. “Our humanity is at stake. We are out here to save the soul of our nation. We need all the children reunited to their parents. We demand to end the zero humanity policy. We need to save the Supreme Court and we need to vote, because when we vote, we win.”

Kerry Washington in New York City

“This country comes from immigration,” Washington began. “Slavery is a part of my legacy, I understand the legacy of family separation because slavery is a part of my story and so is immigration. My grandparents on my mother’s side came to this country through Ellis Island in the ’30s from the Caribbean, and they came here like every immigrant seeking better opportunities because of a lack of opportunity in their land — running from poverty, running from racism, running from a place where they couldn’t fulfill a dream. I am the fulfillment of their dream. And I will not stand for somebody else turning this country further down the road of racism and disenfranchisement. Enough is enough!”

She also read a letter from a migrant mother, Margarita, who had been separated from her son—he was in Kansas City, Missouri; she in Portland, Oregon: “‘First they tell you that in a few weeks you will have your child, then in a month then in another month, but they never fulfill their promises. With such delay, I have asked myself, what am I doing wrong? Have I not sent everything they asked for me? I want them to at least allow me to see him one day, if for a while. What mother would not want to have her son in her arms. If only for a moment.'”

Watch Washington’s speech below, or read the full transcript here.

[embedded content]

Cher in Los Angeles

“What I really want to try to impress on you is to vote,” the singer said. “You know, I’ve been through 11 Presidents in my life, and I thought I saw everything, but I have never seen anything like this…. When I was little, women were not introduced by their name; they were introduced by their husband’s name—’this is Mrs. John Smith.’ We had no choice over our bodies when I was little… There was no birth control; there was no such thing as your husband raping you, you know? If a husband beat up his wife and the police came, they would just go, ‘Hey buddy, walk around, you know? Walk around the corner, cool off, and come back.’ So what I’m saying to women is get your friends and vote. Because if you don’t vote, you will not recognize this country and you will lose everything that you will just now take for granted, every right that you have. And I’m not being dramatic—well, maybe I am—but I mean it, OK? I’m trying to impress this upon you because you’ve been through a time, you live in time, when women have freedom. I remember a time when women didn’t have freedom, and I don’t want to see this happen to you.”

Related Stories:

All Your Questions About Trump’s Executive Order on Family Separation, Answered

The Most Powerful Signs From the ‘Families Belong Together’ Marches

A Ton of Celebrities Just Showed Up at the Border to Protest the Separation of Migrant Families





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Why Kerry Washington Is Wearing Her Hair Natural Now


When you watch Kerry Washington handle her shit on Scandal gladiator-style, powerful, confident, and brilliant are exactly the words that come to mind. Fitting then, that on the heels of the season finale, the actress and Neutrogena spokesperson would drop a new Essential Eye Palette—and Essential Cheek Palette—featuring shades with the same names. They’re “colors that a lot of people can use in a lot of different ways, and, of course, they’re meant to have a double meaning,” she says. Practical and powerful—classic Olivia Pope right there.

We caught up with the Scandal star to play a lightning round of 20-ish questions. Here’s what she had to say about beauty perceptions in Hollywood, nudes for every skin tone, and more.

Glamour: What’s one beauty rule you think is BS?

Kerry Washington: I think the idea that you are not enough is bullshit. Anytime the cosmetics industry traffics in the belief that you have to buy a product in order to be who you’re supposed to be is a false idea. We’re beautiful as we are—products exist to enhance and amplify our beauty. I want women to feel beautiful in all their incarnations and variations, and just as great when they wash their face, as they do when they put makeup on.

Glamour: So then what’s the one beauty rule you swear by?

KW: Hydration, hydration, hydration. I believe drinking a ton of water is vital to health and wellness. It’s so important to have hydration on the inside, but also finding products that can really lock in moisture on the outside. It’s all about working internally and externally toward the same goal.

Glamour: Fill in the blank: “I wouldn’t have survived before ____ was invented.”

KW: I’m a survivor. I always find a way.

Glamour: You’ve talked about your struggle with eczema. What are your nonnegotiable skin care products for keeping it in check?

KW: Daily fish oil supplements, because omega fatty acids work. And I’d never, ever skip moisturizer—no way—it’s too critical. I’m a little bit obsessed with Neutrogena Norwegian Hand Cream. It actually makes my manicure last an extra week. And then hyaluronic acid for my face is everything. I love Neutrogena’s new serum. And there’s a new Hydroboost gel with SPF in it, which is great, especially during spring and summer.

Glamour: In the fashion and beauty world, the idea of neutrals can sometimes have an underlying implication of “light skin tones.” What did you have in mind as you were curating your new nude eye palette?

KW: It was about finding colors that a lot of people can use in a lot of different ways. To me, you can open the palette, and no matter where you are, what you’re doing, or where you’re going, you can give yourself a pop of glam and freshness—that added sense of easy beauty. That’s why the kit is essential; the shadows represent a wide range of colors that can really enhance and flatter all skin tones.

Glamour: What’s your favorite way to use them?

KW: Powerful is this soft, chocolaty shadow that’s a great day to evening transition color. For me, combining Powerful and Flirty [a cool taupe] is a no-brainer for an easy nighttime look. And I love layering Brilliant [a shimmery champagne] on as a highlighter.

PHOTO: Noam Galai

Kerry Washington at the 2018 Met Gala

Glamour: On the heels of Scandal‘s ending, you’ve spoken about how Olivia Pope inspired you to be more courageous. How has that translated into your attitude toward beauty?

KW: Olivia has encouraged me to be more bold with my beauty looks, but so have my kids. Wearing my natural hair on the red carpet has a lot to do with me being a mom now and wanting to reflect that for them. Again, it’s that idea that there’s not just one way to be beautiful and that there are lots of ways to bring out your best self. You don’t have to follow one prescription of what beauty is. I try to always be free and authentic and not leave the house until I’m like, OK, I feel good about this.

Glamour: What’s your best curly hair advice?

KW: Clarifying shampoo. I use it once a month, because I rely on so much conditioner and leave-in products that, if I don’t hit the reset button occasionally, my hair can get weighed down. Neutrogena has a good one; it’s not too overdrying, which I think is important for curly hair.

Glamour: If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions in Hollywood, what would it be?

KW: To keep working toward the idea that there’s room for every kind of beauty—in all it’s shapes, shades, and sizes.

Glamour: What’s your favorite emoji?

KW: I love discovering new ones! I have a girlfriend who sends me a lot of upside-down smiley faces ?, and it always makes me laugh. I also like the freaked-out face where the eyes are closed and the tongue is hanging out ?. It’s appropriate for all of the feels: very happy, very sad, and very angry.

Glamour: Speaking of happy, what smell always makes you smile?

KW: I tend to play with scent when I’m developing a role; it’s one of the ways that helps me access character. I personally don’t have a signature scent, but I love what my house smells like when I’m baking with my kids. We’re a big banana bread and waffles on the weekend household. Those scents just smell like family.

Related Stories:
–Kerry Washington’s Farewell Letter to ‘Scandal’ Would Make Even Eli Pope Cry
–Kerry Washington on Art As Activism and the Importance of “Staying Awake”
–16 Celebrities Who Gave Us Rare, Incredible Glimpses at Their Curls



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