In a way I don't think so. I should say that on TFS we are way more clued up than the girl on the street. We'd be able to look at images and instantly point from which era/edition it stems from. But the magazine is not being created with us in mind. That said, starting with the Duchess Catherine cover to the documentary right through to Edward's appointment, I'd say that Alexandra may have been at her most famous yet.
I also think that the magazine landscape changed tremendously. Nowadays EIC's are no longer invisible. They're very much associated with the magazine. Why do they have so many SM followers then? Franca had her 'farewell' issue. You could say it was due to her passing, but I don't recall Liz Tilberis ever getting hers. I've heard some nasty rumours about Kirtie Clements' departure, so I'm not shocked she never got hers. And had Carine not been sacked by those evil CN cohorts we'd certainly have seen the same for her, I'm sure. I think this fitting personally. When you've made a profound impact on a magazine I do think you at least deserve that (now whether said impact was good or bad is another story).
You're maybe right even if i wouldn't put Liz, Carine and Kirtie in the same level.
Liz with all her brillance and talent gave that fresh thing to Vogue Uk but didn't stayed long enough to deserve the accolades. She became THE fashion editor she became thanks to her vision for HB.
Joan Juliet Buck didn't had her farewell even if she made wonderful things for the magazine. People were too excited about Carine coming.
Carine herself is a tricky case because her last 2 years at Vogue Paris were highly controversial. From her conflict of interest to the not so well received issues/eds and all the behind the scenes...
What Carine and Franca last issues of Vogue made me feel was a bit of an end of an era. I think that with Carine in 2011, we were really saying goodbye to irreverence, controversy and a form of freedom.
People are more and more conservative and it started at that time. People were into minimalism, excess was dead and everything that seemed to be excessive received a backlash.
I don't know what mark Alexandra left at Vogue Uk. It's not creativity, glamour or anything like that...Maybe Kate Moss being on the cover a thousand of times is her real mark.
The worst thing about that is that while Kate Moss is the "Brit" girl by excellence, she is also very Vogue Paris. I don't think one model can credit Vogue Uk for pushing her career, the same for designers or even photographers...
Thank god it's her last issue.