Meghan Markle's 'Variety' cover is being delayed out of respect for the Queen

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Since moving to California, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been working on many different projects, including lending her time to causes related to social justice, the environment and more.

As such, she continues to be recognised with various honours, the latest coming courtesy of prestigious entertainment publication Variety. The magazine has chosen Meghan as one of its Power of Women honorees, cementing her as a “groundbreaking and accomplished female leader.”

Cynthia Littleton, co-editor-in-chief of Variety stated: “We’re honoured to salute those who are making a difference for equity, inclusion and excellence in our industry and making an enormous difference in the wider world through their philanthropic efforts.”

Meghan was chosen alongside Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay, Malala Yousafzai and more incredible women.

This honour is meant to come with a corresponding cover, but in light of Queen Elizabeth II’s sad passing last week, the publication has decided to postpone Meghan’s cover “out of respect” for the late monarch.

Variety also announced that Meghan will not attend the Power of Women gala, which will take place in Los Angeles on 28th September, according to Hello! magazine.

The likely explanation for this is that the period of mourning for the Queen extends until 26th September, so the gala may have been deemed to happen too close to the end of it. It’s unclear how long Harry and Meghan will remain in the UK, and whether or not they will fly their children to meet them in the Duke’s home country.

The delay of Meghan’s Variety cover comes just days after Spotify confirmed that the Duchess’ podcast, Archetypes, would be pausing the release of new episodes during the period of mourning.

Her podcast had been topping the charts, thanks to its highly anticipated release and the inclusion of prominent guests including Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, and Mindy Kaling.

Our thoughts are with the royal family at this difficult time.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.