Meghan Markle lobbied the Biden White House for an Oval Office meeting and a room at Blair House – and got turned down flat.
That wasn't even the most audacious political move she made.
A New York Post report just revealed what she actually asked for.
Meghan Markle Asked Gavin Newsom for Kamala Harris's Senate Seat
Three weeks before the 2020 presidential election, Markle sat down with California Governor Gavin Newsom and pitched herself for the U.S. Senate seat Kamala Harris was about to vacate.
She had been in California for less than six months.
A source told the New York Post that Markle "wanted to be considered to be appointed" – the same seat Harris abandoned to become Joe Biden's vice president.
Newsom's office documented the October 19, 2020 sit-down as an "introductory meeting" – a social call, per the governor's team, with no agenda on record.
The cover story held for six years.
Newsom ultimately appointed California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the seat two days before Harris was sworn in.
Markle was never seriously considered.
Why the Duchess of Sussex Could Never Have Taken Kamala's Seat
Even if Newsom had entertained the idea, Markle's Senate ambitions ran straight into the U.S. Constitution.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 – the Foreign Emoluments Clause – prohibits any federal officeholder from accepting a title from a foreign king, prince, or state without the explicit consent of Congress.
Duchess of Sussex is not a costume Markle can set aside on the way into the Senate chamber.
Harvard Professor Mark Tushnet flagged the constitutional problem years ago – a British working royal holding an American Senate seat would have triggered an immediate legal challenge.
The Founders wrote that clause specifically to protect American democracy from exactly this kind of foreign-royal influence.
Alexander Hamilton, who founded the New York Post, argued in the Federalist Papers that excluding titles of nobility was "the corner-stone of republican government."
The Founders were not writing poetry.
They were drawing a line between American self-governance and European aristocracy – the exact line Markle would have crossed the moment she took her seat.
Markle missed that chapter.
Megxit Ends the Same Way It Started With Markle Chasing Power She Never Had
The Senate pitch was just the opening act.
In 2021, White House staff killed the Blair House request before it got anywhere near Biden's desk – one source said hosting the couple "would have caused a major diplomatic kerfuffle" with Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.
Blair House, for context, is the official guest residence across from the White House – reserved for sitting heads of state on official visits.
That same year, Markle cold-called sitting U.S. senators to lobby for federally mandated paid family leave.
In September 2020, the couple recorded a video message that read as an endorsement of the Biden-Harris ticket – breaking a centuries-old British royal tradition of staying out of American elections.
Trump saw it coming: "I wish a lot of luck to Harry, because he's going to need it."
Hollywood Threw Her Out Too
Hollywood read the same résumé Newsom did – and reached the same conclusion.
Netflix signed the couple to a reported $100 million deal – then downgraded it after With Love, Meghan was cancelled and their projects failed to register.
Spotify paid more than $20 million for the Archetypes podcast – then pulled the plug after one season.
Spotify executive Bill Simmons publicly called Harry and Meghan "f***ing grifters" after the deal collapsed.
Simmons did not stop there.
He described being associated with Harry as "embarrassing" and said of the prince: "What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s**t."
That was a Spotify executive – one of the people who had just handed them $20 million.
Talent agency WME dropped Markle after labeling her difficult and demanding – though the agency disputed the claim.
Taylor Swift declined a handwritten invitation to appear on Archetypes.
Now the couple is packing up and moving back to the United Kingdom.
Markle's approval rating among the British public currently sits at 19 percent.
The woman who wanted Kamala Harris's Senate seat is headed home with nothing to show for six years in America.
She still has the title, though – for whatever that's worth to a Constitution that would have blocked her anyway.
Sources:
- Emily Goodin and Sara Nathan, "True scale of Meghan and Harry's US political plans revealed," New York Post, Aug. 20, 2026.
- Amanda Harding, "Meghan Markle Made A Play For Kamala's U.S. Senate Seat: Report," Daily Wire, Aug. 21, 2026.
- Fox News, "Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle reportedly floated as potential replacements for Dianne Feinstein," Fox News.