Is PM using Vogue to snub Sam Cam’s sis?
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 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 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 British edition has raised a few eyebrows.
Deputy editor of the UK title is Emily Sheffield, younger sister of Samantha Cameron.
When Mrs May took power, 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 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 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.’
Mrs May joins Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly by appearing in the America edition of Vogue.
She has twice been photographed for British Vogue, in 1996 and 2003.