Meghan Markle snubbed in March Vogue cover shoot

Critics are asking why the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was left off a British Vogue cover featuring 40 "legendary" women, but the answer is simple: all 40 who appeared in the massive photoshoot had been featured on the magazine's cover previously, and Markle had not.

The cover was shot in about 15 minutes with all 40 women present, ranging in age from early 20s to over 80, to mark British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful's last cover before retirement.

While the actual shoot was surprisingly quick, it took weeks or months of preparation and more than 1,000 Whatsapp messages, according to casting agent Jill Demling, who coordinated the appearances.

Neither Enninful nor Demling expected all 40 to show up. The only person invited who did not appear was actress Nicole Kidman, who had to be on a movie set instead.

Some of the women on the cover include models like Gigi Hadid and Christy Turlington, movie stars like Salma Hayek, and icons like Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, and Jane Fonda.

The cover is said to have cost as much as 200,000 British pounds, or about four to five times as much as a normal cover. It's a fitting tribute to Enninful, however, now that the 51-year-old editor is moving on to other endeavors.