Meg versus Ivanka for US president?
LONDON: Who would have thought just a couple of years ago that Prince Harry would marry a minor actress from the American television series Suits?
Yet I hear the royal wedding could be just the start of an even bigger Anglo-American drama.
Meghan Markle is said to have told a former close associate that her ultimate ambition is to be president of the US. The conversation apparently took place after Meghan began her romance with Prince Harry.
“Meghan was quite clear that she wanted to be president one day,” the source claims.
It may sound fanciful, but the new Duchess of Sussex has held the ambition since she was a little girl. In 2015, she reportedly told the journalist Piers Morgan that she had not always sought show business success.
“As a kid, I wanted to be either the president or a news broadcaster like you,” she told him.
Markle is still a US citizen, because the process to become a fully-fledged Briton is expected to take three years. She is expected to retain her US citizenship, because dual citizenship is permitted. And presidential candidates must be US citizens.
Markle has cultivated a warm friendship with former US president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, while chat show host Oprah Winfrey, who is one of the most influential women in America, was given a prime seat at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, opposite the royal family.
A royal historian says Markle would find it difficult to enter US politics while still married to Harry.
“It is a pretty strong rule that members of the royal family keep out of politics,” he says.
But Harry could, of course, give up official royal duties. His mother, Princess Diana, was said to have considered moving to America.
And the claim appears to have caused consternation at Kensington Palace, with the duchess giving her official spokesperson permission to take the unusual step of issuing a public denial.
“This conversation you describe with an associate is fictitious,” the spokesperson insisted.
I am, though, not the only one to hear rumours that Markle still holds political ambitions.
Former Times editor Sir Simon Jenkins says: “Her friends and associates affirm that she is a political animal.
“Such is her fame, she could perfectly well follow a route taken by a certain Ronald Reagan.
“She might lead for the Democrats against a Republican… Ivanka Trump. All I can say is, why not?”
Markle’s best friend is Jessica Mulroney, whose father-in-law, Brian, was prime minister of Canada for nine years.
Markle has strong political views and attacked Donald Trump in 2016 for being “divisive” and “misogynistic”. She might have to reach an accommodation with her new chum George Clooney, who is said to hold political ambitions of his own.
Perhaps he could be her running mate. – Daily Mail