Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III.

Meghan was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her acting career began at Northwestern University; her last and most significant screen role was that of Rachel Zane for seven seasons (2011–2018) in the American TV legal drama '' Suits''. She also developed a social media presence. This included ''The Tig'' (2014–2017) lifestyle blog which gained recognition for her fashion sense and led to creation and release of two clothing lines in 2015–2016. During ''The Tig'' period, Meghan became involved in charity work focused primarily on women's issues and social justice. She was married to American film producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 until their divorce in 2014.

Meghan retired from acting upon her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 and became known as the Duchess of Sussex. They have two children, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. In January 2020, the couple stepped down as working royals and later settled in California. In October 2020, they launched Archewell Inc., an American public organization that focuses on non-profit activities and creative media ventures. In the following years, she released a picture book for children, '' The Bench'', and launched a Spotify podcast, ''Archetypes''. Meghan and Harry filmed a highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast in March 2021, and a Netflix docuseries, '' Harry & Meghan'', which was released in December 2022.

Early life and education

Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981, at West Park Hospital in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California. She identifies as mixed race, often answering questions about her background with "My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white." Her parents separated when she was two years old and divorced four years later. Markle's father, Thomas Markle Sr. (born 1944), is an Emmy Award winning television lighting director and director of photography. He worked as a director of photography and lighting for ''General Hospital'' and '' Married... with Children'', and Meghan occasionally visited the set of ''Married... with Children'' as a child. Meghan has been estranged from her father and paternal half-siblings, Samantha Markle and Thomas Markle Jr. She has a close relationship with her mother, Doria Ragland (born 1956).

Growing up in Los Angeles, Markle attended Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse. Both her parents contributed to raising her until the age of 9, after which her father was left in charge of caring for her as her mother pursued a career. At age 11, she and her classmates wrote to Procter & Gamble to gender-neutralize a dishwashing soap commercial on national television. She was raised as a Protestant but graduated from L.A.'s Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl Catholic school. Markle took part in plays and musicals at the school, where her father helped with lighting. During her teenage years, she worked at a local frozen yogurt shop and later as a waitress and babysitter. She also volunteered at a soup kitchen in Skid Row, Los Angeles. In 1999, she was admitted to Northwestern University (NU) in Evanston, Illinois, where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. With other members of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Meghan did volunteer work with the Glass Slipper Project. After her junior year, she secured an internship as a junior press officer at the American embassy in Buenos Aires, with the help of her uncle Michael Markle, and considered a political career. However, she did not score high enough in the Foreign Service Officer Test to proceed further with the US State Department, and returned to NU. She also attended a study abroad program in Madrid. In 2003, Markle earned her bachelor's degree with a double major in theater and international studies from Northwestern's School of Communication.

Acting career

According to Markle, she had some difficulty getting roles early in her career due to being "ethnically ambiguous" because "I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones." To support herself between acting jobs, she worked as a freelance calligrapher and taught bookbinding. Her first on-screen appearance was a small role as a nurse in an episode of the daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'', a show for which her father served as a lighting director. Markle had small guest roles on the television shows ''Century City'' (2004), '' The War at Home'' (2006) and ''CSI: NY'' (2006). For her role in ''Century City'', she told the casting directors that she was a SAG-AFTRA member when she was not, but after being cast the employers were obliged to help her join the union according to the Taft–Hartley Act. Markle also did several contract acting and modeling jobs. Between 2006 and 2007, she worked as a "briefcase girl" on 34 episodes of the US-version of the game show ''Deal or No Deal''. She appeared in Fox's series ''Fringe'' as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season.

Markle appeared in small roles in the films ''Get Him to the Greek'', '' Remember Me'' (produced by her then-partner Trevor Engelson) and ''The Candidate'' in 2010 and the film ''Horrible Bosses'' in 2011. She was paid $187,000 for her role in ''Remember Me'' and $171,429 for her role in the short film ''The Candidate''. In July 2011, she joined the cast of the USA Network show ''Suits'' through to late 2017 and the seventh season. Her character, Rachel Zane, began as a paralegal and eventually became an attorney. While working on ''Suits'', she lived for nine months each year in Toronto. ''Fortune'' magazine estimated that she was paid $50,000 per episode, amounting to an equivalent annual salary of $450,000.

Personal life

Early relationships and first marriage

Markle and American film producer Trevor Engelson began dating in 2004. They were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on August 16, 2011. They separated in July 2013 and concluded a no-fault divorce in February 2014, citing irreconcilable differences. Markle's subsequent live-in relationship with Canadian celebrity chef and restaurateur Cory Vitiello ended in May 2016 after almost two years.

Second marriage and motherhood

In mid-2016, Markle began a relationship with Prince Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. According to the couple, they first connected with each other via Instagram, though they have also said that they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in July 2016. In November, the prince directed his communications secretary to release a statement on his behalf to express personal concern about pejorative and false comments made about his girlfriend by mainstream media and internet trolls. Later, in a letter to a British media regulator Markle's representatives complained about the harassment from journalists. In September 2017, Markle and Prince Harry appeared together in public in Toronto at the Invictus Games, of which Harry is founding patron.

Meghan Markle's engagement to Prince Harry was announced on November 27, 2017, by Harry's father Charles (then the Prince of Wales). The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm by the British media, and prompted generally positive comments about a mixed-race person as a member of the royal family, especially in regard to Commonwealth countries. Markle announced that she would retire from acting, and her intention to become a British citizen.

In preparation for the wedding, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, baptised Markle and confirmed her in the Church of England on March 6, 2018. The private ceremony, performed with water from the River Jordan, took place in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. The marriage ceremony was held on May 19 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Her wedding dress was designed by Clare Waight Keller. Markle later revealed that there was a private exchange of vows three days earlier, with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the couple's garden. However, this private exchange of vows was not a legally recognized marriage. It was reportedly agreed in advance that excess funds generated from the BBC
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