Is PM’s US Vogue shoot a snub to SamCam’s sister?
THERESA May has become the first Prime Minister to pose for American Vogue – after snubbing the British version where David Cameron’s sister-in-law works.
Mrs May, 60, secretly posed for the celebrated photographer Annie Leibovitz in a fashion shoot at Chequers last week for the magazine’s April edition.
While Margaret Thatcher was in British Vogue several times, this is the first time a PM will appear in the US version.
Mrs May, known for her high-end wardrobe choices, has long been a fan of Vogue, and said when she appeared on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs that a lifetime subscription to the magazine would be her luxury item.
But her choice of the US title over the UK edition has raised a few eyebrows.
The deputy editor of the British edition is Emily Sheffield, the younger sister of Samantha Cam-
‘She needs to raise her profile in US’
eron. When Mrs May took power after Brexit, Miss Sheffield spoke angrily about how she ‘deplored’ the ‘casual denigration’ of the achievements of Mr Cameron’s Government by the new regime.
She also delivered a stark warning to Mrs May in an article for The Spectator, writing: ‘They will come for you, I am afraid one day, Prime Minister, like they did for Thatcher, Blair and Brown.’
The PM’s photoshoot will be in the issue which goes on sale in March, when Mrs May is expected to travel to Washington for her first meeting with Donald Trump.
Her appearance is said to be part of a charm offensive as she prepares to deal with the new US president. British-born American Vogue editor-in- chief Anna Wintour, who was appointed a dame in the New Year’s Honours List, is said to have worked on the secret project for some time.
A Downing Street spokesman said the decision to pose for Miss Leibovitz was taken before Mr Trump’s victory because Mrs May was a lifelong fan of the magazine.
He added that Miss Wintour’s honour was proposed by the Foreign Office. But a source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘The Vogue shoot will form a central part of Operation Trump. Theresa knows she needs to raise her profile in the US and Anna Wintour was only too keen to help.’
Miss Leibovitz began her photography career with Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s. In 1980 she captured the last official image of John Lennon, hours before he was shot dead in New York.
The 67-year- old photographer, who earns up to £150,000 a day, has also taken pictures of the Queen.
Mrs May joins Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly who previously had the honour of appearing in the American edition of Vogue.
She has twice been photographed for the pages of British Vogue, in 1996 and 2003.