Theresa May to become surprise cover girl for US Vogue

Theresa May is to turn cover girl as she features in a fashion spread for the American edition of Vogue, Downing Street has confirmed.

The 60-year-old PM secretly posed for renowned celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz in a shoot which is due to be featured in the magazine's April edition.

Downing Street sources denied suggestions that the glamorous photo shoot – which took place last year at the PM's country retreat in Chequers - was in any way timed to coincide with May's trip to the US next month to meet President-elect Donald Trump.

"The long-planned shoot for US Vogue will come out in April," a No 10 spokesman said.

While Margaret Thatcher appeared in British Vogue, May is the first prime minister to appear on the cover of the US edition of the fashion magazine, according to The Guardian.

May is known for her sartorial statements, previously explaining that she was keen to use her love of fashion in "pushing the boundaries of prime ministerial attire".

Her passion for fashion has, however, sparked criticism from her parliamentary peers. Former education secretary Nicky Morgan publicly criticised May for her extravagance after she appeared in a previous magazine spread wearing a £995 pair of leather trousers, Sky News reports.

"I don't have leather trousers. I don't think I've ever spent that much on anything apart from my wedding dress," Morgan complained.

May also has a particular fondness for shoes and is famed for her eye-catching leopard-print kitten heels and her unusual choice of footwear at the 2007 Tory Conference, when she arrived wearing Wellington boots.

Speaking on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 2014, May revealed her love for the fashion bible when she said she would take a lifetime subscription to Vogue as her luxury item if she were stranded on a desert island.

The news of the fashion shoot for Vogue comes just weeks after the US magazine's long-time editor, Anna Wintour, was made a dame in theNew Year's Honours list.

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