Iconic photographer Peter Lindbergh photographs the cover of British Vogue’s September 2019 issue, guest edited by Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex guest edits British Vogue’s September 2019 issue, considered the most important issue of the year. Editor-in-chief-Edward Enninful invited Meghan to appear on the cover, but she declined, saying it would be considered “boastful”. With minions clamoring to criticize the Duchess at every turn in the road, declining was absolutely the correct decision.

Instead, the September 2019 British Vogue cover features 15 women who are “trailblazing changemakers, united by their fearlessness in breaking barriers”, according to a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

The female ensemble of “trailblazing changemakers” includes activist actor Jane Fonda, climate change advocate, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and supermodel now maternal health advocate Christy Turlington Burns.

Markle has worked on the project for seven months, connecting with Michelle Obama and persuading her husband Prince Harry to join the dialogue with world-renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall.

Rounding out the list are Adwoa Aboah, mental health campaigner and model; Adut Akech, Model and former refugee (although she says she will always be a refugee); Ramla Ali, boxer; Sinead Burke, diversity advocate and lecturer; Gemma Chan, campaigner and actor; Laverne Cox, LGBTQIA+ advocate and actor; Salma Hayek Pinault, actor, producer and women’s rights advocate; Francesca Hayward, royal ballet principal dancer; Jameela Jamil, body positivity advocate and actor; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author and feminist; and Yara Shahidi, founder of Eighteen x 18 and actor (and adored by Michelle Obama).

Meghan said: “These last seven months have been a rewarding process, curating and collaborating with Edward Enninful, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief, to take the year’s most-read fashion issue and steer its focus to the values, causes and people making impact in the world today.

“Through this lens I hope you’ll feel the strength of the collective in the diverse selection of women chosen for the cover as well as the team of support I called upon within the issue to help bring this to light.

“I hope readers feel as inspired as I do by the forces for change they’ll find within these pages.”

"To have the country's most influential beacon of change guest edit British Vogue at this time has been an honour, a pleasure and a wonderful surprise," said Enninful. The September 2019 issue hits newsstands on Friday, August 2.

The cover is photographed by Peter Lindbergh — his first British Vogue cover since September 1992. Many of the women were photographed via video links.

The 16th spot on the cover will appear in print as a silver reflective mirror, to show how you, the reader, are part of this extraordinary moment in time – and to encourage you to use your own platform to bring change.

The Duchess will introduce Forces for Change in her own words in her guest editor’s letter, in addition to her interview with America’s former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Meghan turned down the offer to feature on the issue cover, preferring to focus on the women she admires, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, said. Photograph by Peter Lindbergh.

In an appalling act of absurdity, The UN Economic and Social Council voted days ago to award Saudi Arabia a four-year term on the Commission on the Status of Women. beginning in 2018

“Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s absurd.”

“Every Saudi woman,” said Neuer, “must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death. Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars.”

“I wish I could find the words to express how I feel right know. I’m ‘saudi’ and this feels like betrayal,” tweeted a self-described Saudi woman pursuing a doctorate in international human rights law in Australia.

Saudi Arabia was elected by a secret ballot last week of the U.N.’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Usually ECOSOC rubber-stamps nominations arranged behind closed doors by regional groups, however this time the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley U.S. forced an election, to China’s chagrin.

The former governor of South Carolina is making a name for herself in New York and beyond, with her willingness to speak clearly. On Monday Ambassador Haley brings the entire UN Security Council to Washington for a series of first-ever meetings with key US officials including President Trump.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley is serving this month as the President of the Security Council, a role that rotates each month among the five Permanent members: the U.S., Great Britain, France, China and Russia. There are 15 members of the group — but the others, right now including Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Ukraine and Uruguay are non-voting members.