Prince Harry's bride-to-be: who is Meghan Markle?

Who is Meghan Markle?

Meghan Markle is an American actress, best known for her role in the hit US legal drama series Suits, in which she plays paralegal turned lawyer Rachel Zane.

What else has she appeared in?

Ms Markle had parts in CSI: Miami, sci-fi show Fringe and films such as Get Him To The Greek, Remember Me and Horrible Bosses. She was also “briefcase girl” - one of the models who hold the suitcases full of cash - on the US version of Deal Or No Deal.

And her charity work?

As well as being a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, she is committed to gender equality through her work as a women’s advocate for the UN.

What about her lifestyle blog?

Ms Markle ran her own blog - thetig.com - promoting self-empowerment and messages of positivity, in which she opened up about her life, loves, her favourite foods and places, and even her celebrity hairdresser.

But she closed the site down nine months after she started dating Harry, leaving fans the message: “Don’t ever forget your worth - as I’ve told you time and time again: you, my sweet friend, you are enough.”

What is Ms Markle’s background?

She was born on August 4 1981, to clinical therapist mother Doria and TV lighting director Thomas Markle, and grew up in Los Angeles.

She studied at a girls’ Roman Catholic college, but was not brought up a Catholic. Her parents divorced when she was six, but she remained close to both of them.

Ms Markle has written about her mixed heritage - her father is Caucasian and of Dutch and Irish descent and her mother is African-American - and how it created “a grey area surrounding my self-identification” but that she has embraced it to become a “strong confident mixed-race woman”.

When did she meet Harry?

They met through friends in London in the summer of 2016. They have been dating since then, flying between her home in Toronto, Canada, where Suits is filmed, and Harry’s at Kensington Palace, London.

Will she become Princess Meghan?

No - she will not be a princess in her own right, only through marriage. She could become Princess Henry of Wales - or if Harry is given a dukedom by the Queen on his wedding day, a Duchess - most likely the Duchess of Sussex.

And she is a divorcee?

Ms Markle married producer Trevor Engelson in September 2011 after dating him for six years. The couple split in May 2013. Her first wedding took place in Jamaica and was celebrated with a barbecue on the beach.

Is the fact she has been married before a problem?

No. Much has changed since Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and since the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret chose duty over love instead of marrying divorcee Group Captain Peter Townsend.

Heir to the throne the Prince of Wales divorced Diana, Princess of Wales and in 2005 married divorcee Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall.