Meghan Markle's anti-airbrushing policy revealed by Vogue photographer

Meghan Markle has guest-edited the upcoming September 2019 edition of British Vogue.

Now, the Duchess of Sussex’s one request for the cover shoot has been revealed: “Freckles!”

The cover shoot was revealed yesterday in social posts from British Vogue’s Twitter and Instagram accounts.

READ MORE: Why Meghan Markle left herself off her British Vogue cover

It features 15 different cover stars, including actors Jane Fonda and Salma Hayek, climate change activist Greta Thunberg, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, and supermodel Chrissy Turlington.

Peter Lindbergh, a German photographer famous for shooting British Vogue’s famous January 1990 “supermodel” cover, was tasked with the job.

Speaking of a phone call he had with the Duchess on the morning of the New York shoot, he says she had one key request.

"My instructions from the Duchess were clear: 'I want to see freckles!’,” Lingbergh revealed in an interview published on the British Vogue website.

"Well, that was like running through open doors for me. I love freckles.”

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Adwoa Aboah, one of the cover stars, is famous for her trademark freckles, and her image – the most close-up shot on the cover – highlights these assets.

Another woman known for her trademark freckles is the Duchess herself. After the royal wedding, there was a rise for freckle tattooing requests from women wanting to pay homage to the royal’s natural look.

And it would seem she is sticking true to her guns, having previously complained about her own freckles being airbrushed out in previous photoshoots.

“To this day, my pet peeve is when my skin tone is changed and my freckles are airbrushed out of a photo shoot,” she told US publication Allure in 2017.

It would seem Lindbergh shares the Duchess’ feelings on airbrushing (also known as “retouching”).

In the same British Vogue interview, Lingbergh said: “I hate retouching, I hate make-up. I always say, ‘Take the make-up off!’”

While freckles are most popularly associated with paler skin tones, according to the NHS, they can appear on all complexions. Both Aboah and Markle, who are of mixed-race origin, have embraced their unconventional looks.

It would seem Lindbergh shares the Duchess’ feelings on airbrushing (also known as “retouching”).

In the same British Vogue interview, Lingbergh said: “I hate retouching, I hate make-up. I always say, ‘Take the make-up off!’”

Body positive activist Jameela Jamil, who also features on the Vogue cover, has spoken of her dislike of airbrushing.

She has previously complained of magazines altering images of her during the early stages of her career – “It makes me feel gross”.