The Post reported that Markle sought a meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 and allegedly hoped to put herself in contention to replace then-Sen. Kamala Harris if Joe Biden won the presidential election.
A source told the outlet Markle “wanted to be considered to be appointed” to Harris’ seat.
Markle and Harry did have an introductory conversation with Newsom in October 2020, although the Sussexes have denied that Markle was seeking the Senate appointment.
Newsom ultimately selected California Secretary of State Alex Padilla for the vacancy after Harris became vice president.
Exactly what was discussed between Newsom and the Sussexes remains disputed. But the allegation adds another chapter to years of speculation that Markle was interested in building a political career after returning to the United States.
And the reported outreach to Newsom was apparently only the beginning.
The Sussexes Reportedly Wanted Access to Biden’s White House
The Post also reported that Harry and Meghan sought an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden in 2021.
That request reportedly went nowhere.
The couple allegedly also wanted to stay at Blair House, the historic government guest residence across from the White House generally used to accommodate visiting foreign dignitaries.
Administration officials reportedly wanted no part of an arrangement that could be interpreted as the White House taking sides in Harry’s increasingly public dispute with Britain’s Royal Family.
One former Biden aide told the Post that Biden and First Lady Jill Biden “didn’t want to get into a family squabble.”
Another source reportedly warned that an Oval Office appearance involving Harry and Meghan “would have caused a major diplomatic kerfuffle.”
That calculation wasn’t difficult to understand.
Harry remained the son of Britain’s future king, while he and Meghan were simultaneously making highly publicized accusations against the institution his family represented.
Giving the pair the kind of treatment normally afforded to official foreign representatives could have created an unnecessary headache for both Washington and London.
Still, the reported political courtship continued.
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed in her 2024 memoir that Meghan sent lemons to Jill Biden after interpreting one of the first lady’s fashion choices as a possible gesture of support.
Then came an even more extraordinary reported request.
Air Force One Was Apparently Off Limits
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022, Harry and Meghan reportedly asked whether they could return to the United States aboard Air Force One with President Biden and the first lady.
They were turned down.
The request would have placed two private citizens — one of whom remained a British prince — aboard perhaps the most politically and diplomatically sensitive aircraft in the world.
According to the Post’s reporting, the Bidens had some personal sympathy for Harry because of the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Biden himself experienced devastating family tragedy when his first wife and infant daughter were killed in a 1972 automobile accident.
But whatever goodwill existed apparently had limits.
Harry and Meghan’s efforts to gain proximity to the administration reportedly became an increasing source of concern.
Meghan Took Her Message Directly to Washington
The Sussexes weren’t merely seeking meetings with politicians.
They were also publicly wading into American political debates.
During the 2020 election campaign, Harry and Meghan appeared in a Time video urging Americans to participate in the election.
Meghan said voters should “reject hate speech.”
Harry, who is not an American citizen, also participated in the message.
The remarks generated criticism because members of the British Royal Family traditionally maintain strict political neutrality, particularly when discussing elections in allied countries.
Meghan later personally contacted U.S. lawmakers while campaigning for federally mandated paid family leave.
That effort produced its own controversy because she reportedly introduced herself as the Duchess of Sussex while contacting senators about domestic American legislation.
Whatever one thinks of the policy itself, the spectacle was unusual: an American citizen using a British royal title while lobbying elected officials in Washington.
It also raised an obvious question about what Harry and Meghan wanted their post-royal identities to be.
Were they celebrities? Activists? Former royals? Political influencers? International dignitaries?
At various moments, they appeared eager to occupy all of those roles.
Hollywood Hasn’t Delivered the Royal Treatment Either
Their reported political ambitions come as the Sussexes’ entertainment ventures have also experienced setbacks.
Spotify ended its podcast relationship with Harry and Meghan in 2023. Spotify executive Bill Simmons subsequently unloaded on the pair, calling them “the f***ing grifters.”
Their relationship with Netflix later shifted to a first-look arrangement rather than the broader production deal that originally accompanied their splashy entrance into Hollywood.
Meghan’s lifestyle series also failed to become the kind of runaway cultural phenomenon that might have justified the enormous attention surrounding the couple.
That makes the newly reported political maneuvering particularly revealing.
Harry and Meghan arrived in America with something almost nobody else possesses: instant global recognition, royal connections, enormous press attention, lucrative corporate opportunities, and direct access to powerful people.
Yet converting that celebrity into durable institutional influence has proven considerably harder.
According to the Post, “the couple’s attempt to become kingmakers fizzled out.”
That may be the most telling line of the entire saga.
Harry and Meghan wanted freedom from the constraints of royal life while apparently retaining much of the status, access, and deference that came with being royals.
Washington, however, isn’t Buckingham Palace.
A royal title might get someone’s phone call returned. It doesn’t guarantee a Senate seat, an Oval Office meeting, a room at Blair House, or a ride on Air Force One.
If the Post’s account is accurate, Harry and Meghan learned that lesson repeatedly — and in remarkably embarrassing fashion.
