LAURA CRAIK: Cover girl Anna Wintour says she WAS the Devil in Prada

Everyone wants to be on the cover of American Vogue, the influential 'fashion bible' that has gilded the reputation of actresses and supermodels, pop stars and politicians, sports legends and TV titans, First Ladies and princesses.

But this month, the glossy tome has broken with tradition to feature a cover star from a rather different world – its own. 

Step forward – in Manolo Blahnik heels – Dame Anna Wintour, the redoubtable 76-year-old Briton who served as the magazine's editor-in-chief for 37 years.

A Vogue editor on the cover of Vogue? Groundbreaking. Never in the magazine's 134-year history had its esteemed front page been accorded to 'the staff'. 

But then, never had a Vogue editor inspired a bestselling book that went on to spawn a well-loved film franchise.

Appearing alongside Meryl Streep on the front page of the May issue, Wintour's stint as a cover star marks the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, based on Lauren Weisberger's book of the same name.

After a 20-year hiatus, Streep, 76, will reprise her role as Miranda Priestly, the editor of fictional fashion magazine Runway.

Needless to say, both women are photographed wearing Prada. Exactly how fictional Priestly's character may be has long been a matter of debate.

Speaking to The Times in 2016, Weisberger, a former intern at American Vogue, said: 'It was a work of fiction but obviously inspired by Anna and inspired by my time at Vogue – clearly. But I embellished it for sure.'

On the book's publication in 2003, Wintour immediately distanced herself from the lead character and was privately said to be 'furious' at the parallels being drawn.

By the time the film was released in 2006, however, Wintour appeared to have thawed, even attending an early screening dressed self-referentially in Prada. But she has never publicly acknowledged that Streep's character is based on her. 

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After decades of cagey denial, May's Vogue cover is the clearest indication yet that Wintour is finally willing to embrace what fashion insiders have known all along: that she is both the inspiration and the blueprint for Miranda Priestly.

'I'd like to say it's such an honour to be played by Meryl, however distant Miranda is from myself,' Wintour says pointedly in the accompanying interview. 'Who wouldn't think that that wasn't the most extraordinary gift?'

She also alludes to being 76, saying: 'I like my age. I feel as alive, excited, and aware as ever. And I think, with experience, you have a sense of balance and proportion, and you know that life is not perfect and that things will go wrong and you're just going to give it your best shot. I feel age is actually an advantage.'

Wintour announced she was stepping back as Vogue's editor-in-chief in June 2025 to become Conde Nast's Global Chief Content Officer and Global Editorial Director of Vogue.

She handed over the position – which she'd held since 1988 – to Chloe Malle, 40, the daughter of actress Candice Bergen and late director Louis Malle.

But while she may have relinquished her title, it's clear Wintour has relinquished none of her power – at least, not when it comes to the final say on who should be Vogue's cover star.