The British royal family is set to have a newest member, as the engagement of Prince Harry to his American actress girlfriend Meghan Markle has been officially announced.
As the future Duchess of Sussex, we are sure to see and hear a lot of Markle. But before the much-anticipated royal wedding in spring 2018, let’s get to know the girl that made the currently fifth in line to throne happy and in love.
The world gets to know American actress Meghan Markle after the news of her engagement to Prince Harry has been made official.
Her real first name is the same as her character’s name on Suits
Early on in her career she chose her stage name to be Meghan Markle, dropping her first name Rachel, which ironically is the name of her Suits character, the ambitious paralegal Rachel Zane.
She wrote to Hillary Clinton to complain about a soap commercial
When she was 11 years old, she had watched a Procter & Gamble soap commercial with a tagline “women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans,” which she believed suggested that women belonged in the kitchen. It made her angry that she wrote to the manufacturer and to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. The TV commercial was changed, the word “women” was replaced with “people.” Today, Markle is a UN Women’s Advocate for Political Participation and Leadership, and is a proud feminist committed to gender equality.
She did calligraphy and was a briefcase girl on Deal or No Deal
Markle used to be a freelance calligrapher while she was finding acting gigs. In her interview with Esquire, she said she did calligraphy for business cards and invitations, such as for Robin Thicke and Paula Patton’s wedding. The skill, she said, she had learned as a student to an all-girls Catholic school which had handwriting classes.
She was also one of the briefcase girls on the television game show Deal or No Deal, holding the “ill-fated” number 26. Markle said her experience in the show helped her understand “what I would rather be doing.”
Her first marriage lasted two years
On Sept. 10, 2011, Markle married American movie producer Trever Engelson, most famous for the 2010 movie Remember Me. The pair started dating in 2004 and became engaged in 2010. But because of “irreconcilable differences” their marriage ended in a no-fault divorce in August 2013.
She met Prince Harry in a blind date
The two reportedly met in May 2016 in a blind date through a mutual friend while Prince Harry was in Toronto to launch the 2017 Invictus Games. In their engagement interview posted on the royal family’s Facebook page, Prince Harry said that prior to their meeting, she didn’t know Markle as he never watched Suits. Four weeks later since their first meeting, wherein Prince Harry was “beautifully surprised by Markle, he “persuaded” her to join him in Botswana where they “camped out with each other under the stars.”