Harry and Meghan are on Time 100 influencer list

September 15 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan graced the cover of Time magazine’s annual Top 100 Most Powerful People on Wednesday.

The list also includes singers Billie Eilish and Britney Spears, and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.

Harry and Meghan, who left royal duties last year and moved from Britain to California, are featured on one of seven global covers showcasing the winners.

Photo shows the couple, who call themselves The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, casually dressed with a background of trees.

Time magazine editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said the 100 list featured “extraordinary leaders from around the world working to build a better future” who “in a year of crisis have jumped into the fray.”

The list of 100, which is unranked, included 54 women. It also included political figures such as US President Joe Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris and former US President Donald Trump.

Harry and Meghan left Britain in 2020 to build an independent life, launching their Archewell Foundation and making lucrative deals for the production of TV shows and a podcast.

Chef Jose Andres, who funded the Archewell Foundation partner, nonprofit World Kitchen, wrote in a tribute that it would have been safer for the couple to remain silent.

“It’s not what Harry and Meghan do, or who they are … In a world where everyone has an opinion about people they don’t know, the Duke and Duchess have compassion for people they don’t know. They run into the fight, ”Andres wrote.

Spears, 39, was on the list for the first time in a year which saw his struggle to get rid of a guardianship that had controlled his personal and professional affairs for 13 years, increasingly scrutinized.

The “Stronger” singer was celebrated by reality TV star Paris Hilton, who wrote that Spears “embodies joy” despite her struggles. “So we’re here to hear and support her as she turns pain into a goal, her unwavering spirit stronger than ever.”

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion, writing about seven-time Grammy-winner Eilish, who also got her own cover, called the 19-year-old musician “a one-of-a-kind” who “stands up for and defends women of the whole world”.

The special issue of Time goes on sale Friday.

Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Angus MacSwan

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