The Queen may have been notably absent, but the royal turnout for the Thanksgiving Service did not disappoint. Video / AP
OPINION:
Earlier in June, the internet had a right good time of it when the Elysee Palace in Paris released a series of photos of French President Emanuel Macron, taken while fielding a call with international leaders after the invasion of Ukraine.
Dressed down in a hoodie, unshaven, his brow furrowed, they show Macron hard at work, a man so intent on making the world a better place that he did not have the time or inclination to waste a precious moment on himself.
Twitter et al had a good chortle at just how stagy, contrived and a tad desperate the mise-en-scene looked and back, one would assume, that hoodie went into the President's closet.
Whatever the fate of le hoodie, those Macron shots really crystallised the way that caring has become a very 21st century, social media-ready performance piece.
This new photo, like the Presidents', shows the 40-year-old duchess dressed down (barefoot, her usual polished designer look replaced with very much at-home wear) and like the Elysee images, rendered in black and white.
Again, like the Gallic political wunderkind, in this new image, instead of the duchess' usually perfect hair and makeup we see her with the sort of hastily pulled back ponytail and headband combo busy women the world over know all too well.
Then there is what the former Suits star is actually doing: Holding her iPhone, her famous face, a study in worry, a Macbook perched on her lap.
Like Macron, this Meghan shot was taken mid-charitable flight, specifically while she was on the phone with feminist icon Gloria Steinem and award-winning journalist Jessica Yellin after the US Supreme Court reversed Roe Vs Wade.
On June 26th, the three women discussed the historic and horrifying ruling and on Wednesday the conversation was published for a story on the Vogue website.
Let's start with this: Go Meghan. God yes! As one of the women who holds exclusive membership of the One Name Club, women like Beyonce, Madonna and Oprah, here we have the Duchess of Sussex using her fame, reach and access to speak out against a decision that should terrify and anger people the world over.
I cannot stress this point enough – I think her adding her voice to the growing chorus of famous voices incensed, scared and galvanised into action by the Supreme Court's archaic ruling is to her absolute credit.
Here comes the "but" though …
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul's Cathedral in London on June 3. Photo / AP
The sticking point for me here is not Meghan weighing into this issue but the manner in which she has done it.
According to the piece's introductory paragraph Yellin "called the two people she knew could put that seismic event into perspective. The first? Gloria Steinem. The second? Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex" before the piece goes on to cover the women's conversation.
It's an interesting read (which you can do here) and gets into the fact that Meghan and Steinem are working together to have the Equal Rights Amendment ratified. (Brava mark two!)
However while the story offers equal real estate to Yellin, Steinem and the duchess' thoughts on the Roe decision, the only news image that appears is that shot of Meghan – one that has been handily supplied to the magazine by the Sussexes' philanthropic Archewell arm.
And right there is the issue.
To be clear, maybe Vogue only asked Meghan for her picture and didn't make the same request of Yellin or Steinem. Its inclusion might solely be at the behest of the magazine's editors.
But no matter whose choice the inclusion of this solo photo was, its very presence exemplifies the fact that Meghan's brand of caring is one that, with a disconcerting frequency, puts her at the very centre of things. The unfortunate consequence is that it can make some of her philanthropic work look dangerously like a PR ploy.
The portrait of the artist as a young humanitarian, if you will.
In 2019, Meghan guest edited British Vogue and chose not to appear on the cover because, according to the magazine's editor Edward Enniful, she felt it would be BOASTFUL. (Never mind the feathers that sentiment might have ruffled given that nearly every senior female member of the royal family since the 1950s has appeared on the front of the fashion bible.)
The cover of British Vogue edited by Meghan Markle. Photo / Supplied
Contrast that to just over a year later when Harry and Meghan, now California ratepayers, took part in the charity Baby2Baby's drive to hand out back to school supplies for underprivileged kids, to which they took their own photographer and released photos to the press.
Come Remembrance Day in 2019 and the Sussexes did exactly the same thing, handily toting along their own snapper to record them looking appropriately sombre for images which were then distributed to the media.
In fact, the very first sighting of the duo on US soil came when a paparazzo just happened to catch the couple out delivering food for Project Angel Food.
In 2021, it emerged that Meghan had gotten involved in the push for paid parental leave (all the gold stars!). But, did she do this by donating scads of the $200 million or so that she and Harry are said to be pulling for their various content deals? Did she lend her support to a campaign in the district of Senator Susan Collins or Senator Shelley Moore Capito?
No, she called the pollies themselves, dropped her title and managed to suitably get their hackles up. "I was happy to talk with her," Collins later told Politico. "But I'm more interested in what the people of Maine are telling me about it."
In late May after 19 children and two teachers were murdered by a gunman in a school in the Texas town of Uvalde, Meghan flew in to pay her respects. The visit included her laying flowers at a memorial, which just happened to be surrounded by press and visited a blood drive centre to donate food to volunteers.
The duchess' sadness and desire to support a grieving community is not for debate but what are her methods.
Her going there did not draw any more attention to the horror (the US media corp was already camped out there and broadcasting live and non-stop) nor did she offer any sort of message about gun reform.
Why not just make a massive food donation? Or try and arrange for BetterUp, the coaching and mental health platform Harry works for as the Chief Impact Officer, to provide support for the entire town?
There are so many ways she could be making tangible differences in moments like this but instead seems to often end up going the route that puts her in the centre of the frame?
In moments like this and the paid parental leave fight, what we end up getting are photos of Meghan caring rather than her making the much more pragmatic and strategic choice to use her money, access and phone book to maximum effect, even if that means not a single solitary social media like.
During her conversation with Yellin and Steinem, Meghan said: "Women matter. And this is one of the reasons that I called Gloria immediately. Because in all of it, she reminds me that when you have anger, you have to channel that energy into something that makes a difference."
The unfortunate fact is that sometimes the best way to "make a difference" does not translate to being the star of global media coverage and some lovely applause, hoodie or not.
"Together we stand" goes the famous protest slogan, not "together we get another Time cover."
• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
