If she were auditioning for the role of a lifetime, it would seem she has won the part. Meghan Markle, the actress, yoga-lover and now fiancee of a prince, has stepped officially into the warm embrace of the British Royal family, crossing the Atlantic, to start a new life.
The engagement announcement was not exactly a surprise, after weeks of breathless speculation and rumours. Nor is Markle an unknown entity. A refreshingly far cry from the sheltered aristocratic ingenues lined up as royal consorts of yore, she has taken pains to introduce herself to the world on her own terms.
So who is Meghan Markle? And how much of herself will she manage to preserve in the transition to Kensington Palace and life as a working royal?
At 36, she is three years older than Prince Harry and — unusually for royal brides — has already lived a substantial independent life pursuing a career she would have been happy to continue had fate not stepped in.
According to her own description, given in 2016 before she scaled back her public life, she is, “an actress, a writer, the editor-in-chief of my lifestyle brand, The Tig, a pretty good cook and a firm believer in handwritten notes”. A yoga devotee, she enjoys a fine wine and occasional hearty pasta, and attracted a following for a picture-perfect Instagram lifestyle starring pet dogs, stylish friends and wholesome nights in.
If she has inspired some ribbing for her proclamation that “most things can be cured with either yoga, the beach, or a few avocados”, she has, nevertheless, refused to fit in too exactly with the LA cliche.
In words that will either come to define her role in royal life, or come back to haunt her, she has said: “I’ve never wanted to be a lady who lunches; I’ve always wanted to be a woman who works.”
And work she has: As a freelance calligrapher to pay the rent, as a jobbing actress and model, and finding fame as a saintly paralegal in Netflix drama Suits.
As she built a career on-screen, she seized opportunities off it as well. Her website, The Tig, before she closed it, was sprinkled with photographs of a glamorous life of travel and feasts from around the world. In a series of interviews aimed at boosting its readership, she waxed lyrical about the benefits of bee pollen, acupuncture and running.
At 11, she wrote to a soap company complaining about their sexist advert featuring women in the kitchen — and got it changed. Following it up with a degree in International Relations, she went on to work with UN Women, as global ambassador for World Vision Canada, and agitator for gender equality.
During a visit to Rwanda to highlight the water crisis, she was photographed surrounded by smiling children, in what could prove a fateful foretelling of her future royal charity work.
Unlike Prince Harry’s former girlfriends and the former Catherine Middleton, she has been well-trained in media relations and PR. The perils of royal life — constant press interest, social media intrusion and the ubiquitous camera phones following her every move — are unlikely to daunt her.
When she stepped in front of the cameras hand-in-hand with Prince Harry at the Invictus Games, observers commented on her natural aptitude for public appearances: Charming her hosts, making uncontroversial small talk with the public and bending to accept gifts from children graciously.
Not for her care-free paparazzi pictures dancing the night away and stumbling out of clubs: A concerted tabloid effort to dig up scandal has resulted in little more than some steamy in-character screen grabs from old acting jobs.
Not that her extended family has always helped.
Her half-sister Samantha, 16 years her senior, has painted an unflattering picture of the actress in what has become a running commentary, and is set to publish a tell-all memoir entitled The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister.
Markles’ ex-husband, Trevor Engelson, whom she married in Jamaica in 2011 before separating two years later, has not shared his story, but has sold the rights to a comedy series about a man whose wife leaves him for a British prince.
Markle’s parents, though, have provided stability.
Her mother, Doria Ragland, a yoga teacher and social worker, provided the perfect companion for the Invictus closing ceremony, chatting happily with Harry in an arena box, suggesting a clearly comfortable relationship. Her father, Thomas Sr, has kept his counsel from his home in Mexico.
Profiles suggesting a gritty urban upbringing are wide of the mark: The young Meghan attended a private Catholic school, joined her lighting director father on television sets, and was close to her parents who helped her navigate what she has described as a “confusing” time as a mixed-race child.
A family lottery win when she was nine gave the family a head-start, according to her half-brother, funding the best schools and opportunities to pursue drama. Though they divorced when she was six, she has publicly praised both her mother and father for how they have brought her up, revealing their nicknames for her: “Flower” and “bean”, respectively.
If her transatlantic relationship has afforded little time to get to know the Windsors, the engagement has inspired a warm welcome from her future family. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge proclaimed themselves “very excited” at the news, adding it had been “wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together”. The Queen is “delighted”, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall “thrilled”.
Certainly, the Duke and Duchess will be on hand to provide top tips on a Royal wedding that will be held in Windsor, just west of London.
For now, a little space to enjoy their newly-engaged status beckons before a wedding in the spring.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2017
Hannah Furness is the Arts and Royal correspondent at the Daily Telegraph.
