Crash course on Meghan Markle
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is an American-born actress and the wife of Prince Harry.
On January 8, 2020, Meghan and Harry announced that they would be stepping back from their royal duties, with an aim toward financial independence. They said they plan on splitting time between Britain and North America.
Here are some other facts about the duchess.
An atypical announcement
In the January 8 announcement, the couple said splitting their time between countries "will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity."
Welcome, baby Sussex
Meghan gave birth to their first child, a son named Archie, on May 6, 2019. He is seventh in line for the throne.
A growing family
The couple announced that they were expecting their first child in October 2018, shortly before an official trip to Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
A royal wedding
Prince Harry and Meghan were married on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England.
It's official!
After months of speculation, Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle officially announced their engagement on November 27, 2017.
And there's a lot more to know about her
Markle was famous as an actress on "Suits," but there's a lot more to know about Prince Harry's bride-to-be.
She's Californian
Markle was born in Los Angeles in 1981.
She was raised in the Hollywood area, where she attended an all-girls, private Catholic high school.
She's biracial
"My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African-American. I'm half black and half white," Markle wrote in Elle Magazine in 2015.
Here, she takes a selfie with her mother, Doria Ragland, a yoga instructor and psychotherapist with a master's degree in social work.
She's divorced
Markle married producer Trevor Engelson in 2011; the couple split after two years.
Engelson is currently working on a TV show about a man who shares custody of his child with an ex... who has married a British prince.
She's a sign of changing times in Britain
King Edward VIII had to abandon the throne when he decided to marry a divorced American in 1936. Fortunately for Prince Harry, times have changed. He's currently fifth in line to the throne.
She may be distantly related to Prince Harry
A genealogical investigation by The Mail on Sunday claims the couple are distantly related through a late 15th century ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II's mother. According to the report, Markle is connected to the royal family through distant relatives on her father's side. The couple has not denied the report.
She grew up on the set of a famous sitcom
Markle's father, Thomas W. Markle, was a lighting director on the set of "Married... with Children." She said she grew up visiting the set every day after school.
She graduated from Northwestern University
Markle graduated from the school in Evanston, Illinois, in 2003. She double-majored in theater and international studies and was also part of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
She interned in Argentina
During her senior year of college, Markle worked at the U.S Embassy in Argentina.
She was a freelance calligrapher
To make ends meet while pursuing her acting career, Markle took on calligraphy jobs. She told Esquire that she wrote out invitations for Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's wedding and correspondence for Dolce & Gabbana.
She was also a “briefcase girl” on “Deal or No Deal”
She also told Esquire that she worked as a model holding a briefcase on the game show "Deal or No Deal" while she was trying to get her acting career going.
"I was the ill-fated number 26, which for some reason no one would ever choose. 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," she remembered.
Her early acting gigs were on “General Hospital” and “Fringe”
She also had small roles in "General Hospital," "CSI: NY," "CSI: Miami" and a few movies.
Her big break was on “Suits”
Since 2011, she has portrayed Rachel Zane, a paralegal-turned-lawyer, on the USA Network legal drama "Suits."
After her engagement to Prince Harry was announced, Markle said she'd be leaving acting and that the 7th season of "Suits" would be her last.
Her feminism started early
Markle has said that a Procter & Gamble commercial with the line "Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans" struck her as misogynistic when she was 11.
She said she wrote letters about the ad to Hillary Clinton and Procter & Gamble, among others. The company ultimately changed the line to "People all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans."
She founded a lifestyle site
In 2014, Markle created a lifestyle website called "The Tig," which was "dedicated to the love of travel, food, fashion and beauty."
Markle shut the site down in 2017, about a year after she started dating Prince Harry.
She collaborated on a fashion line
Markle worked with Canadian clothing retailer Reitmans to design two "work-to-weekend" collections for the brand.
She and Prince Harry met on a blind date
Prince Harry and Markle were introduced by a mutual friend in July 2016. Prince Harry told reporters that he knew Markle was the one "the very first time we met."
She was Harry's love at first sight
In September of 2016, Kensington Palace issued a statement referring to Markle as Prince Harry's "girlfriend."
The two were spotted together several times after that, including at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September of 2017.
She's going to become a British citizen
After the announcement of the couple's engagement, a Kensington Palace statement said that Markle would become a British citizen and will be baptized in the Church of England.
The palace also said the wedding would take place in May 2018.
Her ring has Princess Diana's diamonds
The ring Prince Harry gave Markle has three diamonds. The middle stone is from Botswana, where the two have traveled together.
"The little diamonds on either side are from my mother's jewelry collection to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together," Harry told the BBC.
She won't be called Princess Meghan
Markle's formal title won't be Princess Meghan because she is not from the royal bloodline.
She may become a duchess
She will become Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales when she marries Harry. She also could be called duchess if, like Kate Middleton and Prince William, she and Harry are granted the titles of duke and duchess by the Queen.
The Queen also could decide to give Middleton and Markle princess titles, but that would go against decades of tradition.
She has 2.3 million followers on Instagram ...
... and 436,000 followers on Twitter.
She's a self-identified foodie
Markle has called herself a "foodie" on many occasions. She and Prince Harry were cooking dinner together the night they got engaged (on the menu: roast chicken). She also makes no secret that she enjoys a good glass of wine.
She's a dog person
Markle has two dogs, Guy and Bogart, who are often featured on her Instagram.
She's a philanthropist
Markle is a global ambassador for World Vision Canada. She traveled to Rwanda with the organization for the Clean Water Campaign.
She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and One Young World, a U.K.-based non-profit.