Oprah Winfrey is British Vogue’s August 2018 cover star.
The media mogul looks positively regal on the cover, in a custom gown from Stella McCartney (the same designer who put together her custom look for the royal wedding in May) and bejeweled earrings from Buccellati.
Famed fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot shot the cover and accompanying photos, while Winfrey was styled by the magazine’s relatively new editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful.
In the accompanying interview, Winfrey explains why running for president would “kill” her, the positive changes she’s seen as a result of the Me Too movement, and how she avoided a massive faux pas at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s nuptials.
Winfrey gave a rousing speech at the Golden Globes in January, and her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, hinted she might be interested in running for president. But the 64-year-old has shot down the notion that she would enter politics in 2020.
“In that political structure ― all the non-truths, the bullshit, the crap, the nastiness, the backhanded backroom stuff that goes on ― I feel like I could not exist,” Winfrey told British Vogue. “I would not be able to do it. It’s not a clean business. It would kill me.”
Though she’s staying away from entering politics, Winfrey has repeatedly voiced her support for the Me Too and Time’s Up movements against sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation. And she feels that change is imminent.
“People talk about ‘these are such dark times,’ but what if we shift the paradigm? Because I see it differently,” Winfrey said. “I see, ‘Isn’t this remarkable that we’re waking up?’ For years, women have endured craziness. This is what’s happening to people. They’re allowing themselves to not just become corroded, but to become hysterical. You’ve got to lean to the happiness.”
The world felt a collective moment of happiness on May 19, at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s gorgeous nuptials. Winfrey surprised viewers everywhere (except her best friend, Gayle King, who was commenting on the wedding) when she showed up to the event of the year ― if not the decade.
Though Winfrey looked stunning in a pale pink Stella McCartney number, she almost committed a major faux pas by wearing a cream gown to the nuptials. She described what would have been the nearly unforgivable ordeal in her British Vogue interview.
“[I saw the Stella McCartney gown and it] looked white, not cream,” Winfrey told the magazine. “I Googled, ‘Can you wear white to a wedding?’ Answer: ‘No, don’t risk it.’”
Despite almost risking it all, the media mogul seems to have had an amazing time at the wedding.
“It felt like another level of everything. It felt like more than a wedding,” Winfrey told “Extra” last month. “It felt like a shift in culture. I left more hopeful.”
In the rest of the Vogue pictures shared on Monday, Winfrey oozes elegance in a rich, red satin gown from Alexander McQueen and a floral gown from Erdem, one of the Duchess of Cambridge’s favorite labels. Her gorgeous jewels look like they were plucked right from the Crown Jewels collection.
To read the rest of Oprah’s interview, head to British Vogue or pick up a copy of the magazine when it hits newsstands July 6.
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