MEGHAN MARKLE
G'day folks,
We've just had Prince Harry and his lovely wife visit us in Australia for the Invictis Games. What an impressive duo they are, but who is Meghan Markle?
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is a retired American actress who became
a member of the British royal family upon her marriage to Prince Harry. Markle
was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and is of mixed-race heritage.
Who Is Meghan Markle?
Born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles,
California, Meghan Markle
pursued a career as a screen actress, appearing in a number of TV series before
landing the recurring role of Rachel Zane on the USA Network show Suits.
Markle was the subject of international headlines in 2016 upon the revelation
of her romance with Prince Harry
of Great Britain. The two announced their engagement late the following year
and married on May 19, 2018. Markle also ran the lifestyle blog The Tig from
2014 to 2017.
Romance with Prince Harry
Previously best known for her role on
the TV series Suits, Markle made international headlines when it
was revealed in 2016 that she was seriously dating Prince Harry
of Great Britain. The two met while Harry was attending the Invictus Games in
Toronto, where Suits is filmed. Much speculation ensued about the
direction of their romance, with Markle becoming the most Googled actress of
2016 as a result of the relationship. Yet some of the scrutiny was toxic, with
Kensington Palace issuing a statement calling for the couple’s privacy to be
respected and pointing out the indecency of racist and sexist online trolling
directed at the actress.
A few weeks later, Kensington Palace announced that the royal wedding would take place May 19, 2018, in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The news came shortly after Google's announcement that Markle had topped the year-end rankings for most searched actress for the second year in a row, finishing only behind fired TV personality Matt Lauer for 2017's most Googled person. On December 21, fans found another reason to hit their search engines with the release of the couple's official portrait photographs.
In January 2018, it was confirmed that Markle was adhering to royal
tradition by shutting down her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Through Kensington Palace, Markle said she was "grateful to everyone who
has followed her social media accounts over the years."
Markle made headlines by breaking royal protocol — albeit in adorable fashion — during a visit to Birmingham on International Women's Day in March 2018. Introduced to a 10-year-old student, who told the soon-to-be princess that she wanted to become an actress, Markle gave the girl a hug, violating the handshake-only rule in place for the royal family.
News soon leaked that the couple would not sign a prenuptial agreement before the big day, despite their hefty individual assets. Insiders pointed to the lack of prenup enforcement in U.K. courts, as well as Prince Harry's steadfast belief that the marriage would be a lasting one.
In late March, it was reported that the duchess-to-be and her family would receive a specially designed coat of arms from Kensington Palace before the wedding. Markle's father, a U.S. citizen residing in Mexico, reportedly needed to prove one of his ancestors was a subject of the Crown in order to receive his gift. Markle's coat of arms was expected to be completed in time to feature on the souvenir program for the royal wedding, with elements from that design and Prince Harry's to be incorporated into the coats of their future children.
On October 15, 2018, Markle and Prince Harry announced that they're expecting their first child in Spring 2019. "Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public," Kensington Palace said in a statement.
Life as the Duchess of Sussex
Following the wedding, the couple
attended a birthday party for Prince Charles before heading off for their
honeymoon. It was then on to more formal activities, with Meghan making
her Buckingham Palace balcony debut at the Trooping the Colour ceremony on
June 10.
Two days later, Kensington Palace
announced plans for Meghan and Harry's first royal tour: "The Duke
and Duchess of Sussex will undertake an official visit to Australia, Fiji, the
Kingdom of Tonga, and New Zealand in the Autumn," read the announcement.
"Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit the Realms of Australia
and New Zealand by the countries’ respective governments. The Duke and Duchess
will visit the Commonwealth countries of Fiji and Tonga at the request of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office."
Background and Early Career
Meghan Markle
was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Doria,
a clinical therapist and yoga instructor, and Thomas, a television lighting and
photography director.
When she was 11, Markle wrote a letter
to various notables, including then First Lady Hillary Clinton,
about a TV advertisement featuring the idea of women being bogged down by
greasy cookware. The youngster deemed the ad sexist when male classmates
started yelling, upon seeing the commercial, that the kitchen is where women
belonged. (The language of the ad was subsequently changed.) Markle went on to
study theater and international relations at Northwestern University School of
Communication, graduating in 2003.
In 2002 Markle landed her first TV role with a
guest spot on General Hospital,
and she went on to appear in a number of other series that included Cuts, The War at Home, CSI: NY and 90210. As a biracial
actress, Markle would eventually talk about the challenges of navigating
Hollywood’s check-a-box casting landscape while also finding her voice as an
actress.
Starring Role in 'Suits'
In 2011, Markle had her big break,
landing the role of paralegal Rachel Zane on the USA network series Suits,
co-starring Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams and Gina Torres. The legal drama
centers on the shifting intrigues of a Manhattan corporate law firm, with the
savvy Zane attending Columbia Law School to pursue her own dreams of becoming
an attorney. The show became a top performer among USA Network’s scripted
programs and began taping its seventh season in 2017, though the network
announced that Markle would be leaving the program following the news of her
engagement to Prince Harry.
Markle has done big-screen work as well,
appearing in such films as Get Him to the Greek (2010), Horrible
Bosses (2011) and Anti-Social (2015), as well as the TV movies When
Sparks Fly (2014) and Dater’s Handbook (2016).
Personal Life
Markle dated producer Trevor Engelson
for several years before the couple married in 2011. They divorced two years
later.
Markle has a number of passions that
include yoga (following in the footsteps of her mother), calligraphy and
cuisine. She is also an essayist and has written for Elle UK, and
ran her own lifestyle blog The Tig from
2014 to 2017. Markle's philanthropic efforts include being appointed a U.N.
Women’s Advocate and working with the World Vision Clean Water Campaign, among
other activities.
Clancy's comment: I reckon Harry has done alright. Meghan has also.
I'm ...
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