In a piece for the Daily Mail, British satirist and critic Craig Brown notes that Finding Freedom authors Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie left out Meghan and Ivanka’s relationship on purpose.
“The authors of Finding Freedom conveniently airbrush Ivanka from the record, perhaps fearful that the Trump formula for success and happiness might jar against Harry and Meghan’s new mission to ‘build a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world’,” he wrote.
Indeed, Duchess Meghan reached out to Ivanka after launching her now defunct lifestyle blog The Tig, with royal biographer Andrew Morton noting that Meghan “was thrilled when Ivanka agreed to fill in her simple questionnaire for Tig Talk,” in his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess.
“More thrilled when she accepted her invitation to meet for drinks and dinner the next time Meghan was in New York.”
In a 2014 Tig blog post, Meghan described Ivanka as “staggeringly beautiful, no question, but so incredibly savvy and intelligent”, before going on to describe how she made a name for herself, despite growing up with such privilege.
“Don’t get me started on her jewellery collection: the late night ‘window shopping’ I have done on my computer, snuggled up in my bed with a glass of wine, staring longingly at the beautiful designs,” she added, explaining that there were even plans to meet up for dinner and drinks in New York.
“This much I know – when we have drinks, I will make sure I order whatever she does – because this woman seems to have the formula for success (and happiness) down pat.”
With the US election approaching, American-born Meghan is set to make British royal history by voting, despite the fact that royals usually stay politically neutral.
On Friday morning, the Duchess of Sussex appeared in a video for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote virtual couch party, stating that “if you’re complacent, you’re complicit.”
“We vote to honour those who came before us and to protect those that come after us…that’s what community is all about and that’s specifically what this election is all about,” she said from her California home via video link.
“We all know what’s at stake this year. I know it, I think all of you certainly know it if you are here at this fun event with us,” she added.
“You’re just as mobilised and energised to see the change we all need and deserve. This fight is worth fighting and we all need to be out there mobilising to have our voices heard.
“If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. If you are complacent, you are complicit.”