THE MAKING OF MARKLE
Marion McMullen reveals all about Meghan Markle, the American actress who is to marry Prince Harry
1THE 36-year-old, born Rachel Meghan Markle, is the daughter of Emmy Award-winning lighting director Thomas W Markle, who worked on the US sitcom Married With Children and General Hospital. Her mother is therapist and yoga instructor Doria Radlan. The couple divorced in 1988, when Meghan was six.
2MEGHAN is best known for her role in American legal drama Suits, pictured, in which she plays paralegal Rachel Zane, but she has also been in films Get Him To The Greek with Russell Brand, Remember Me and Horrible Bosses.
3SHE was the most Googled actress of 2016 because of her connection with Prince Harry. The couple made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Games, pictured, in September.
4SHE created a lifestyle website called The Tig, which she ran for three years before closing it down. The website name was inspired by an Italian wine called Tignanello. It covered food, travel, fashion, and beauty. She once said: “I do think there’s some value to throwing yourself into food and embracing where it comes from.”
5SHE grew up in California and attended a girls’ Roman Catholic college. She later studied theatre and international relations at Northwestern University.
6SHE was 11 when she persuaded a soap manufacturer to alter an advert after she wrote to Hillary Clinton, pictured below, complaining it implied women belonged in the kitchen. Meghan has remained engaged with the larger social issues, becoming an ambassador for World Vision Canada.
7PAST relationships have included a two-year marriage to Trevor Engelson and a short time with celebrity chef Cory Vitiello. Harry and Meghan will marry in Windsor Castle, above.
8SHE was a freelance calligrapher, doing correspondence for Dolce & Gabbana and wedding invitations for clients such as singer Robin Thicke before her acting career took off. She first featured in an episode of General Hospital in 2002 before moving on to roles in CSI, 90210, Without A Trace and crime comedy drama Castle.
9MEGHAN’S engagement ring, above, was designed by Prince Harry himself and uses a central stone from Botswana and two from his mother Princess Diana’s collection.
10SHE spoke publicly about her relationship with Prince Harry for the first time when she graced the September cover of US magazine Vanity Fair, above.