Who came first? Meghan Markle or a book about trailblazing women?
It's been 24 hours since Meghan Markle revealed the cover of the British Vogue issue she guest-edited, and it has already caused quite the controversy.
Shortly after the news broke, authors Samanta Brett and Steph Adams accused the duchess of ripping off the cover of their book The Game Changers. And there's no denying the similarities between the two covers, as both adopt a grid format with black and white photos of fifteen successful women inspiring change.
Interestingly, Meghan played a roll in the production of The Game Changers as not only was she featured on the cover but she personally approved the concept and even wrote an essay for the book's release nearly three years ago.
Brett told the Daily Mail she was stunned when she first saw Meghan's Vogue issue:
It's obviously very flattering, she obviously likes our concept! I love Meghan and am a huge fan, but if what people are alerting us to is true, then it's extremely disappointing.
While there are definitely some similarities, a black-and-white photo grid isn't exactly the most groundbreaking idea.
We can't know for sure if the cover's design was even Meghan's idea but she did suggest adding a reflective 16th tile to the page.
The sixteenth space on the cover, a mirror, was included so that when you hold the issue in your hands, you see yourself as part of this collective,
What’s most important here is not who invented the grid, it's the women highlighted in Meghan’sVogueissue, including actress Jane Fonda, activist and model Adwoa Aboah, and our very own Sinead Burke, among many others.
