Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly pursued a considerably larger role in American political life after moving to California than was publicly known at the time, including an alleged effort by the Duchess of Sussex to be considered for Kamala Harris’ U.S. Senate seat.
The New York Post reported that Markle sought a meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020 because she wanted to be considered for appointment to the seat Harris would vacate upon becoming vice president.
Markle is an American citizen and was living in California by then. California Senate vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment, meaning Newsom would choose Harris’ replacement.
According to the Post, Markle’s interest emerged during the closing weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign.
A source told the newspaper that Markle “wanted to be considered to be appointed” to Harris’ seat. The couple did have an introductory conversation with Newsom in October 2020, although it is not publicly established that a Senate appointment was discussed.
Newsom ultimately appointed then-California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to the seat.
Harry and Meghan have denied the Post’s account. Newsom, according to the newspaper, did not address the allegation.
The reported Senate maneuver was not the only occasion on which the couple allegedly sought access to the upper reaches of American government.
The Post reported that in late 2021 Harry and Meghan requested an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden and sought accommodations at Blair House, the presidential guest house across from the White House generally used for visiting foreign dignitaries.
Neither request succeeded.
A former Biden aide told the Post that Biden and first lady Jill Biden did not want to become involved in Harry’s increasingly public dispute with Britain’s royal family.
The situation presented an obvious diplomatic complication. Harry was no longer a working royal, but he remained the son of the future King Charles III and grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. An Oval Office appearance could therefore have carried implications well beyond an ordinary celebrity visit.
The couple reportedly made another extraordinary request following Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022: They asked to travel back to the United States aboard Air Force One with the Bidens.
That request was also rejected.
There were nevertheless smaller connections between Meghan and the Biden White House. Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote in her 2024 memoir about Meghan sending lemons that made their way to the White House after Jill Biden wore a dress patterned with lemons.
Harry and Meghan were also publicly commenting on American civic and policy matters during this period.
In a September 2020 Time video, the couple encouraged Americans to vote. Harry said voters needed to “reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.”
Meghan later contacted U.S. lawmakers while advocating federally mandated paid family leave in 2021.
Her reported interest in becoming a senator, however, would represent something substantially different from political advocacy if the Post’s sources are correct.
The Sussexes’ alleged political ambitions unfolded alongside their attempt to establish careers in American entertainment.
Their Spotify agreement ended after producing Meghan’s “Archetypes” podcast, with Spotify executive Bill Simmons subsequently delivering his infamous public description of the pair as “f***ing grifters.”
Their relationship with Netflix has also changed. Deadline reported that the arrangement became a first-look deal rather than the broader agreement the couple originally held. The second season of “With Love, Meghan” also failed to rank among Netflix’s 300 most-watched programs of 2025.
Now Harry and Meghan are reportedly preparing to leave Los Angeles and return to Britain.
