The Royals Have A Real Problem Living With Meghan
Actress, activist, entrepreneur she may be best known as the Duchess of Sussex now, but before she married Prince Harry and became mother to baby Archie, Meghan Markle led an accomplished, busy life in her own right.
The royal couple have won hearts all over the world with their charity work and modern values. But how much do you know really about them?
- Name: Meghan Markle
- Gender: female
- Age: 39
- Height: 5'7" (1.71m)
- Birthday: August 4th, 1981
- Net worth: $50,000,000
- Nationality: us
- Occupation: Actor, Model
Meghan Was A Self Described California Girl.
Born and raised in L.A., Meghan had a decidedly more relaxed childhood than her fianc. Her given name was actually Rachel Meghan Markle, meaning she shares a first name with her Suits character.
Stepping Back From The Royal Life.
"After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment."
The Sussexes shared the news of their decision in a lengthy post on the Sussex Royal Instagram account, revealing they plan to become financially independent and will split their time between the UK and North America.
Meghan Grew Up On The Set Of Married With Children.
Her dad, Thomas Markle, worked as an Emmy award-winning lighting director, and he often would bring his youngest daughter to the set. Meghan attended the private, all-girls Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, so the experience definitely contrasted with her education.
Meghan's Return To Hollywood.
It turns out Markle is making a Hollywood comeback but she won't be on-screen.
Markle will use her partnership with Netflix to promote her charitable projects
The charity, which works to protect elephants in Botswana, is one that has been championed by Markle both before and during her royal career.
Meghan Was A Feminist From A Young Age.
At age 11, Meghan was working on a homework assignment about commercials when she heard an Ivory dishwashing soap ad aimed solely at women. "I don't think it's right for kids to grow up thinking these things, that just Mom does everything," she said at the time.
Meghan Skirts The Rules ALOT!.
Royals are not supposed to sign autographs.
But in January, Meghan Markle found a clever way around the requirement when she greeted fans, accepted a kiss, and signed a 10-year-old's note outside Cardiff Castle in Wales. Since Markle hadn't officially married Harry at the timeand since she wrote, "Hi Kaitlin," instead of signing her nameshe technically got away with it.
Meghan Started Doing Yoga At Seven Years Old.
Thanks to her yoga instructor mom, Meghan's love of yoga started from an early age. The mother-daughter duo started doing mommy-and-me yoga when Meghan was just seven years old.
She Is Not That Politically Neutral
One of the unspoken rules of the Royal life is that the royals are supposed to be politically neutral.
According to CNN, the family has aggressively tried to maintain an unbiased stance on governmental issues since 1649, when King Charles I literally lost his head after the English Civil War with Parliament. Despite the rule, some have broken protocol. Over the summer, a since-deleted tweet revealed that Meghan Markle, a self-proclaimed feminist, told an Irish senator she was "pleased" about Ireland's decision to legalize abortion. Since becoming a royal, Markle has been less vocal about political topics.
Meghan Was On "Deal Or No Deal"
Although she booked her first audition while still in college, Meghan dealt with the turbulence of the industry just like anyone else. She told Marie Claire she did a pilot every season before Suits. While auditioning for shows, she once worked as a briefcase girl on the game show Deal or No Deal.
"I was the ill-fated number 26, which for some reason no one would ever choose," she told Esquire in 2013 "I would end up standing up there forever in these terribly uncomfortable and inexpensive five-inch heels just waiting for someone to pick my number so I could go and sit down."
You Can See Meghan Markle In Horrible Bosses.
Meghan has many other acting credits including the movies Get Him to the Greek, Remember Me, and The Candidate.
Meghan's most recent work was a voice-over narration role in the Disney nature documentary titled Elephant, benefitting the organization Elephants Without Borders, which was also her first project after her and Prince Harry's decision to step back from the royal family.
Meghan Was Married Once Before.
Meghan met her first husband, producer Trevor Engelson, in 2004. They dated for six years before tying the knot in Jamaica during a four-day beach wedding celebration. Not long afterwards, Meghan left Los Angeles to film her breakthrough role in Toronto.
Canada Became Meghan's Second Home.
When Suits got picked up, her role as paralegal Rachel Zane helped vault Meghan's star status. Since the filming took place in Toronto, she spent about eight months of the year in Canada hence why she's called herself an "adopted Canuck."
In 2019 Meghan and Prince moved to a new home in Canada and it's truly fit for a royal, even if they've given up traditional royal life. According to PureWow, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been living in a new home on Vancouver Island since late 2019, on the Saanich Inlet of North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.
Meghan Used To Hang Out All Night With The Suits Cast
Meghan told Esquire that everyone on Suits was really close, spending holiday weekends at Patrick J. Adams's vacation home on the Georgian Bay.
Meghan Was A Lifestyle Blogger "The Tig."
The royals avoid publicly endorsing anything outside of their philanthropic endeavors, but before she became a Duchess, Meghan used to share her thoughts on food, travel, fashion, and beauty via her former lifestyle blog "The Tig."
Meghan Is A Total Foodie.
Meghan has dubbed herself a foodie in multiple interviews, even writing a blog post dedicated to her favorite dishes. On the list? Green juice, fish tacos, chicken adobo, cioppino, and kale chips.
Meghan Designed Clothes On The Side.
Meghan kept up with a number of jobs. Besides covering travel, food, fashion, and beauty on 'The Tig," the career woman also had a side hustle with Canadian clothing brand Reitmans, becoming a brand ambassador for the brand in 2015 and putting out a collection with the label in 2016.
Meghan Adopted Two Rescue Dogs.
Years before she met Prince Harry, Meghan, a known animal lover, adopted two dogs from a rescue shelter a Labrador-shepherd mix named Bogart and a beagle named Guy.
Meghan's BFFs Include Serena Williams And Priyanka Chopra.
Before she met Prince Harry for the first time in July 2016, Meghan already had some very famous friends. In addition to hanging out with Toronto elite, she befriended the tennis legend Serena Williams at DirecTV's Celebrity Beach Bowl in 2014.
Both Serena and Priyanka attended Meghan's wedding in 2018 as well as other notable celebs like Oprah and Amal Clooney.
Secrecy Around How She Met Harry
Given the secrecy surrounding the first few months of their relationship, it was always a mystery to how Britain's hottest Bachelor and Prince and the American actress divorcee ended up together in a fairytale romance worthy of the movies.
The pair's first meeting was just having a drink, and "very quickly" into the blind date, they already began planning when they could see each other next and knew they wanted to pursue not only more dates but a relationship.
The rest is history...
Her Relationship With Harry Was Not A Whirlwind
As everyone takes in the news that the once untamable Prince Harry is going to be wed, one thing many can't get over is how fast it all happened. Since the pair became engaged only 16 months after they first met, their romance has been described as a "whirlwind" but, despite the short period of time, Prince Harry and Ms. Markle don't feel that way at all.
Keeping Her Engagement A Secret
After making their first public appearance as a couple at the 2017 Invictus Games, rumors flew that an engagement was pending and on Monday, November 27th the Royal family released the big news.
Like much of the rest of their relationship, Prince Harry kept things sweet, romantic and very private as he revealed he proposed right in their own home which is Nottingham Cottage one night that was like any other. "It was a standard typical night for us," he said as Meghan added, "Just a cosy night." "What were we doing? Roasting a chickenâ¦trying to roast a chicken," she continued. "It was just an amazing surprise, it was so sweet and natural and very romantic he got on one knee." They also revealed that Meghan was so excited she couldn't let him finish asking. "She didn't even let me finish, she was like, 'Can I say yes, can I say yes,' and then there was hugs and I had the ring in my finger and I was like, 'Can I give you the ring?' And she was like, 'Oh, yes the ring!'" His Royal Highness said. "So yes it was just a really nice moment and I think I was able to catch her by surprise as well."
Her Past Is Even More Complicated Than Harry's
Prior to her relationship with Prince Harry, Markle was married to Trevor Engelson. The two met in 2004 and were together for 6 years before becoming engaged in 2010. After a wedding in 2011, the long-distance took a toll on their marriage and they split in 2013 citing "irreconcilable differences." Although marrying an American divorcee would seemingly never be approved by the monarchy.
It is abundantly clear both Harry and Meghan have learned from their separate yet equally complicated pasts.
The Queens Corgi's Approve
When Prince Harry and Meghan went public, there were numerous reports that she had already met the Queen, which only fueled engagement rumors, and Harry revealed the meetings went even better than expected. He joked that aside from the Queen's approval, his fiancee actually got the approval of his grandmother's corgis, something even he hasn't done. "The Corgis took to you straight away," teased Harry. "I've spent the last 33 years being barked at; this one walks in, absolutely nothing." Meghan added, "That's true. Just laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet."
She Keeps Harry Very Close
The couple formed a new charitable organization called Archewell to focus on issues close to their hearts, such as conservation, female empowerment, and gender equality.
In late 2020 they founded a yet-to-be-named production company and signed a multiyear deal with Netflix, which will pay them to make documentaries, docu-series, feature films, scripted shows and children's programming giving the couple a global platform six months after their dramatic decampment.
