How Is Naomi Campbell Replacing Meghan And Harry?

Shortly before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married in April 2018, Queen Elizabeth appointed her grandson as a Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, a role that he took quite seriously. "Prince Harry will work to create links between young people and youth leaders of the Commonwealth and to encourage them to use Commonwealth platforms to address the social, economic, and environmental challenges of their generation," the Palace said in a statement at the time, according to Harper's Bazaar. Meghan later joined her husband in the role and, as a tribute, the veil that she wore on her wedding day had the flowers from all of the countries in the British Commonwealth, as detailed in Glamour. But when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to pull the plug on their working relationship with the royal family, Queen Elizabeth stripped them from their Commonwealth Youth Ambassador roles — much to Harry and Meghan's reported shock, per TMZ. 

The Commonwealth Youth Ambassador role has been vacant up until now. And while supermodel Naomi Campbell has no real connection to the royal family — other than being a proud citizen of the U.K. — the queen thought she would be a great person to fill in for Harry and Meghan's shoes. Campbell, who perhaps is best known as one of the original supermodels of the 1990s, has just been named as the ambassador for the queen's Commonwealth Trust for her Platinum Jubilee year. Keep reading for what you need to know.

Naomi Campbell, who was born in South London to a Jamaica-born mother, made it no secret that she feels absolutely honored to have been given the role, seeing how she has long worked with charities and organizations in many parts of Africa and the commonwealth. "I always grew up hearing about the Commonwealth and never thought I would ever be anything to do with the Commonwealth, but I know how proud my grandmother and my great aunts and uncles were of being part of the Commonwealth, being a Jamaican," Campbell said in a speech at the Hotel Cafe Royal in London, according to People. She also called the role a "privilege."

Naomi's words and tone certainly differ from what Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had to say about the British Commonwealth back in July 2020, when the couple criticized its colonial past. "There is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past," Harry said in a Zoom call at the time, according to The Guardian. Meghan agreed, continuing, "We're going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because it's only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships." This, of course, has prompted some royal watchers to wonder whether Meghan felt this way while wearing her veil on her wedding day or only after she was stripped from her role.