| | | | | Cutout figures of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle greet a passer-by as Windsor, England, gears up for the royal wedding. Credit: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images | | | The Politics of Meghan Markle: "I'm proud to be a woman and a feminist."
Dispatches From Windsor: Kate texts from the site of the royal wedding.
Inside Washington's Royal Wedding-Themed Pop-Up Bar: There are corgis. | | | | Kate Bennett is off. Her section will return Tuesday. | | What Washington Is Talking About:
The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel as the first female director of the CIA by a 54-45 vote, with two Republicans against and six Democrats voting yes (it was the closest vote for any CIA nominee, the Senate's historian office said), and the House voted down a controversial farm bill.
What America Is Talking About:
Multiple people have been killed in a shooting this morning at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, outside Houston.
"I'm Proud to be a Woman and a Feminist": The Politics of Meghan Markle:
Americans will get their own princess Saturday.
Meghan Markle's marriage to Prince Harry will elevate her to a position as one of the most visible Americans on the planet. Though the family she's joining is purposefully apolitical, Markle brings with her a clear set of political beliefs.
They are beliefs formed by her upbringing as a biracial woman in America and inspired by her father and a group of powerful women, including Hillary Clinton. Her platform, laid out before she met her future husband and codified in a UN speech and glossy magazine editorial, is clear and simple: equality, regardless of gender or race. | | Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at the Women's Empowerment reception in April in London. Credit: Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Getty Images
When Markle was 11, she saw a commercial for Ivory dish-washing liquid in class with the tagline "Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans." Two boys in her class said women belong in the kitchen, and it upset her. Her dad suggested she write letters, so she did. She wrote to the most powerful women she knew -- Clinton, "Nick News" host Linda Ellerbee and attorney Gloria Allred, and she also wrote to the parent company responsible for the ad, Procter & Gamble.
Markle received letters back from the three women, there was a "Nick News" special, and Procter & Gamble soon changed its ad tagline from "Women all over America" to "People all over America." She wasn't even a teenager yet, but Markle had become an accidental activist. | | Credit: via "Inside Edition"
In seventh grade, when filling out a mandatory census form in English class, Markle was confused by a question asking her to select just one race. Her teacher told her to pick Caucasian because, "That's how you look, Meghan." But she left it blank, not wanting to pick one parent over the other.
She told the "People all over America" story in 2015 at the UN Women Conference in New York, where Clinton also spoke. Markle opened her remarks declaring, "I am proud to be a woman and a feminist." She noted her letter-writing campaign had happened two decades earlier, "around the same time as the Beijing conference," where Clinton had delivered her "Women's Rights Are Human Rights" speech as US first lady.
Markle said the elimination of gender inequality around the world wasn't happening fast enough. "Come on, this has to change," she said. "We need a global understanding that we cannot implement change effectively without women's political participation."
And the future royal said equality meant "a wife is equal to her husband, a sister to her brother. Not better, not worse -- they are equal." It's something with which her soon-to-be-husband agrees, she said.
In January, a 23-year-old woman told Markle while on her first official visit to Wales that she was glad there would be a feminist in the royal family. "He's a feminist, too," Markle said, gesturing to Prince Harry. | | Markle wrote an op-ed for Elle four months after her UN speech, in July 2015, titled "I'm More Than an 'Other.'" The piece is about independence, and she wrote about filling out the census form in seventh grade, Hollywood's race-based casting and her refusal to check the "other" box even today when asked her race. She wrote about her great-great-great grandfather, who chose the name "Wisdom" after he was freed from slavery. "He drew his own box," she wrote.
There are other signs of Markle's politics, too. On her since-deleted Instagram account, she had posted photos of her meeting former President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and of a Brexit protest sign. During an appearance on "The Nightly Show" in May 2016, she called Trump "misogynistic." And in August, in a piece for Glamour, she named former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright one of the 10 women who changed her life. ("I double majored with international relations as one of my concentrations at Northwestern, so I've always been drawn to that world. Albright was the first female secretary of state for the U.S., the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., an author, and a mom -- and she seemingly juggled it all with finesse," Markle wrote.)
Her marriage may mean she tones down her political expression, but it's not as if her beliefs will evaporate. She's an American feminist marrying into the royal family, and fittingly, CNN has learned, she's planning on an unprecedented entrance to the ceremony: beginning her walk down the aisle unescorted, something she came up with herself.
Dispatches from Windsor:
Kate texted this morning from Windsor, England, the site of the wedding. She said:
"The town is packed to the gills and it's all very festive. I'd say about 20% are media from all over the world. And there's a ton of police. CNN is set up along the Thames with Windsor Castle in the background, one of the biggest sets of course. If it's this crazy today, I can't imagine what tomorrow will be like!" | | Credit: @KateBennett_DC/Twitter
She also got a replica of Markle's engagement ring. And the Duchess of Cambridge's, too. | | Credit: Kate Bennett
Inside Washington's Royal Wedding-Themed Pop-Up Bar:
CNN's Betsy Klein previewed the bar at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington's West End on Thursday. She wrote:
"Across the pond from all the action, Washingtonians are getting in on the royal wedding mania. There's a Royal Wedding-themed pop-up bar decorated like St. George's Chapel and filled with Harry & Meghan china and a throne (complete with corgis) for posing for a royal Instagram. And the Ritz-Carlton is one of several venues hosting a live viewing celebration at 6 a.m. On the menu: scones, tea, a replica cake, and themed breakfast cocktails -- the "Marry Me, Markle" and "Windsor Ginger" are sure to be a hit."
Look at that cake: | | Credit: Betsy Klein
The New White House Plan to Battle Leaks:
The White House canceled its daily communications meetings of more than two dozen staffers and is considering shrinking its communications team.
Bret Baier Defends the News Part of Fox News:
Baier was grilled by the women of "The View" about the perception that Fox News is "the administration's mouthpiece," as Sunny Hostin put it, and about the appropriateness of Sean Hannity's regular phone calls with President Donald Trump. Baier said he told Hannity that on a 1-10 scale, he causes Fox's news division a 6 in headaches. "The network overall is not a mouthpiece. There may be opinion shows that have a direct relationship with the President, and Sean is not calling me and giving me a download of the call," Baier said.
Shots Fired at Trump golf resort:
A 42-year-old man who was yelling "anti-Trump ... rhetoric" opened fire early today at Trump National Doral Golf Club, according to Miami-Dade police. Police shot the suspect, who is in stable condition.
In Honor of the Only Good Part of That White House Video of a Forced, Normie Meme:
I give you the California "COVFEFE" license plate, spotted in Santa Monica on Olympic and Stewart by Jon Passantino and Manish Amin. Who says they don't know about politics out in Los Ang? | | Credit: @passantino/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
This mural of Markle and Prince Harry was done by street artist Pegasus on the wall of the N7 Collective salon in London: | | Credit: Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images
If you spot political street art, tweet me @hunterschwarz, tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com with your sighting so I can feature it in COVER/LINE.
P.S.:
The Billboard Music Awards are being held Sunday in Las Vegas. Kelly Clarkson is hosting, Ariana Grande is opening, and Janet Jackson is receiving the Icon Award.
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Happy Friday! Enjoy the wedding, the Billboard awards or whatever you're up to this weekend ,and we'll see you back here Monday. Schwarz out. | | | | | | |
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