Prince Harry to marry divorced American actress
LONDON – Actress, humanitarian campaigner, lifestyle blogger – and, next spring, a royal.
Palace officials announced Monday that Prince Harry is engaged to Meghan Markle, confirming months of rumors that the couple was close to tying the knot.
Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his pregnant wife Kate welcomed Markle to the royal family.
“We are very excited for Harry and Meghan,” they
said in a statement. “It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together.”
The announcement means another grand royal wedding is in the offing – the first since William and Kate married in 2011.
In some ways, Markle – a mixedrace American raised in California, an outspoken full- time actress and a divorcee – makes a surprising addition to Britain’s monarchy.
But the institution has moved on with the times, and the romance between Markle and Harry – who has repeatedly stressed his wish to lead as “normal” a life as he could – has a decidedly unstuffy, modern feel to it.
Markle, best known for her role as an ambitious paralegal in the hit US legal drama “Suits,” surprised many when she shared her feelings for Harry in a September cover story for Vanity Fair.
Asked about the media frenzy surrounding their courtship, the 36-year-old said: “At the end of the day I think it’s really simple ... we’re two people who are really happy and in love.”
Describing Harry as her “boyfriend,” Markle said that while she expected that she and Harry would have to “come forward” about their relationship at some point, the two were just a couple enjoying time spent with each other.
“Personally, I love a great love story,” she said.
Harry – once known for his “bad boy” antics, including being photographed playing strip billiards in Las Vegas – has largely won over the British public with his winning smile, his military career and his devotion to charities aimed at helping disabled veterans and other causes.
The 33-year-old prince recently won praise with his work campaigning for more openness about mental health issues.
Speaking candidly about his personal struggle to cope with the loss of his mother, Princess Diana, when he was only 12, he encouraged others to talk about their own problems rather than keeping them bottled up inside.
Some tabloids had alluded to Markle’s mixed-race heritage, pointing out she has an African-American mother and a white father.
Markle herself has spoken out about coming to terms with being biracial – both growing up, and in her Hollywood career.
Markle was born Aug. 4, 1981 to a clinical therapist mother and television lighting director father. She grew up in Los Angeles, and now lives in Toronto.
She studied at a girls’ Roman Catholic high school before attending Northwestern University in Illinois, where she studied theater and international relations.
Markle married film producer Trevor Engelson in 2011, but the pair divorced two years later.
It wouldn’t be first time that a British royal has married an American – or a divorcee. In 1936, Edward VIII famously abdicated after he was forced to choose between the monarchy and his relationship with twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.