Wow, Us Weekly Photoshopped the crap out of this photo of the Duchess of Sussex. Like… Meghan’s beauty regularly takes my breath away, so it’s odd that anyone would try to completely change her makeup and skin this drastically. Anyway, I hope this Us Weekly cover story is part of a larger strategy to hype Meghan’s new projects, including her Netflix cooking/entertaining show. We still don’t have a release date on that, nor have we been able to buy one single item from American Riviera Orchard. Still, I enjoy any kind of positive energy towards Meghan from the tabloids. Some highlights from Us Weekly’s cover story:

Meghan is back: In recent months, Meghan’s been back in the game full throttle. She’s set to launch her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, and her new Netflix series, centered around cooking, entertaining and gardening, has finished filming. In July, she joined a slew of Hollywood heavyweights, including Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow, at the Hamptons home of power broker Amy Griffin for a one-day business summit. “Meghan was there to network,” says an insider. “She was very kind and humble and eager to learn.”

Meghan’s chapter of joy: “Meghan has transitioned from actress to royal to entrepreneur,” says a second insider. “She’s worn many hats, but she believes age and experience have [prepared her] for a bigger purpose in life. She’s very happy with the role she’s carved out.”

She’s ready to look forward. “After Spare, [Harry and Meghan] realized, ‘OK, we’re ready to move on. We want to focus on our future,’” the family friend tells Us. “‘We can have meaning and importance separate from the lives we had previously.’” Adds the family friend: “Meghan doesn’t harbor any negative feelings. She just wants peace, and knows you can’t find peace if you harbor resentments.”

She’s not interested in that family: The family friend says they are otherwise moving on from royal headlines. “Meghan’s team gets asked daily to comment on stuff that has nothing to do with their lives now. They have left it behind.”

Meghan’s friend group: A source close to the Sussexes says Meghan “has a great group of friends who are all successful in their own ways who she really trusts.” In addition to famous pals like Serena Williams and Ellen DeGeneres, she has a group of local moms she sees regularly. The first insider says the duchess has become “very close” with neighbor and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, and a second source says she’s tight with entrepreneur Jamie Kern Lima, cofounder of IT Cosmetics.

Harry’s friend group: Harry, meanwhile, “has a small [group] of close friends,” says the second source, noting that he keeps his inner circle tight for “understandable reasons.” Moving from the U.K. has been an adjustment for Harry, though he’s come to love his situation in the States. “He’ll always be fond of his home country, but the way he views it, his wife and kids are his priority. If that means making sure they’re safe and happy in Montecito, then he supports that.”

The Sussexes do the school run too: The family friend says Meghan and Harry are hands-on parents to Archie and Lilibet and want them to have normal childhoods: “They take the kids to school, they pick them up, and they are very active and present with them throughout the day.” The friend says that the Sussexes keep Archie and Lilibet out of the spotlight for their own safety. “I think every parent wants to share their kid with the world, but they just can’t,” explains the friend, referencing Harry’s battle for enhanced security in the U.K. “William’s kids, for example, have way more safety, even though they’re recognizable. And the same doesn’t apply to Meghan and Harry’s children. They know the world wants to see [them but] I would expect them to live smaller lives until that gets sorted, if it ever does.”

How Meghan feels about Thomas Markle: Says the first insider: “Meghan still has no contact with her dad. She does not plan on having a relationship with him, and he has not met his grandkids. That ship has sailed.”

Launching ARO: She couldn’t be more excited about ARO, which sources tell Us is likely to launch around her Netflix series, which reportedly will be released early next year. “[ARO] will likely be very much in line with who Meghan is as a person,” says the second source. “She loves hosting events, and she’s very thoughtful about how she treats her guests whenever they come over.” Her Netflix series “is going to be a take on her and the joy of living,” reveals the third source, adding that the show will include “little things she’s learned in terms of being a modern-day hostess.” There are rumors of cameos from Harry, and the source promises fans can expect to see familiar faces from pop culture to culinary to beauty.

She’s not writing a memoir: Not currently on the duchess’ radar: running for office, returning to acting or writing a memoir. Adds the third source: “Meghan’s in the middle of her story right now.”

[From Us Weekly]

Meghan has been forward-looking for a while now. I think she was probably more retrospective back in 2022, when she and Harry still believed that they could travel to the UK and visit with his family and when they still maintained their home at Frogmore Cottage. But Meghan’s been done with the UK since QEII died. She’s been done since Charles’s first act as king was to ban her from Balmoral. Anyway, I believe that she’s very happy right now and I can’t wait for all of her projects to launch.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of Us Weekly.