Newsom meet sparks debate on Meghan’s political future

Martha Ross, Tribune News Service

Meghan Markle may be pretty busy these days, expecting her second child with Prince Harry while handling the demands of her new career as a philanthropist, Netflix producer, Spotify podcaster and crusader against an intrusive tabloid media.

CBS announced this week that she and Harry will be interviewed by friend Oprah Winfrey for an upcoming TV special, in which they’ll discuss their marriage, philanthropic efforts and their move away from Britain’s royal family last year.

But top political strategists also say the Duchess of Sussex could have a bright future in politics in her home state of California, arguing that she could use her global fame as a British royal to follow the “well-worn path” adopted by Arnold Schwarzenegger ahead of his run for governor.

“She’s doing everything that’s appropriate and allowed given her new position but she’s definitely putting her toe in the water,” Mike Trujillo, a prominent Democratic strategist, said in an interview with the Times of the UK. “And once your toe is in the water your whole foot is in and next thing you know you are knee-deep and then you are fully in.”

Trujillo was reacting to news last week that Meghan and Harry had a private, one-hour virtual meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, a couple weeks ahead of the US election.

The news prompted some “wild speculation” that the Los Angeles-born former TV actress wanted Newsom to consider her for the vacant US Senate seat if Kamala Harris were elected vice president, the Times said.

In an email to the Bay Area News Group, Newsom’s office declined to comment on the topics discussed during the “introductory” meeting. Someone close to the Sussexes told the Times that the meeting was more social than political and included Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

Laure-Anne Bosselaar, a poet who lives in Santa Barbara, California, near the couple’s new home in Montecito, said locals assume that the meeting was related to Meghan and Harry’s new Archewell Foundation and the philanthropic causes they hope to support.

But the UK tabloid The Sun, a regular critic of the Sussexes, reported that the meeting could be evidence that the two want to further involve themselves in US politics. The Sun said such involvement should be a no-no because they are part of the royal family, which has long had a policy of staying neutral on politics.

However, the Daily Beast pointed out that the Sussexes are no longer senior working royals, since leaving the UK last year. That presumably means they are freer to speak out on certain topics or to interact with certain politicians.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Newsom’s critics, including those leading the recall effort against him, would raise questions about his choice to take time out of his schedule to chat with Harry and Meghan. Since stepping away from the royal duties last year, they no longer have an official diplomatic function.

Several weeks after his meeting with the duke and duchess, Newsom faced widespread criticism for acting elitist and undermining his COVID-19 stay-at-home messages by attending a crowded dinner at the French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, one of the state’s swankiest restaurants.

But Trujillo told the Times he was excited about Meghan and Harry meeting with Newsom and hoped that Meghan would consider getting involved in state politics. “I think it’s fantastic,” he said.

The Times noted that their first Spotify podcast featured Georgia activist Stacey Abrams, whose political organizing is widely credited with helping Joe Biden and Democratic Senate candidates win in that state for the first time since 1992.

Trujillo told the Times that such moves could give her a platform for a future political run.

But others doubt Meghan has political ambitions, with one “well-informed source” telling the Times that the Sussexes are focused right now “on making money.”