Meg’s men
Exclusive: New book reveals the loves she left...
EXCLUSIVE
It is the most eagerly anticipated wedding of the year. When Prince Harry makes Meghan Markle his bride on Saturday May 19, it will bring the Royal Family firmly into the 21st Century.
After it was revealed she shocked her first husband Trevor Engelson by ending their marriage by post, mailing her wedding and engagement rings back to him, the first of our exclusive extracts from new book Harry & Meghan – The Love Story by EMILY HERBERT tells how it all went wrong, as well as speculation over a romance with golfer Rory McIlroy and how she moved in with a Canadian celebrity chef…
As an engaged couple Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first appeared publicly in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace. Meghan, elegant in a white coat, showed off her ring. It had been designed by Harry, with two of Princess Diana’s diamonds flanking a central diamond from Botswana set on a gold band.
“When did you know she was the one?” a reporter asked on that romantic day in November last year. “The very first time we met,” Harry replied.
Meghan was beaming. It was the happy ending the world had been waiting for since news of the relationship broke.
The advent of Meghan as a royal bride was a huge indication of how much the Royal Family had changed – and kept up with the times.
But before she found her prince, actress Meghan had kissed a few frogs.
And 2017 wasn’t the only year that was a life changer – 2011 had seen her life transformed too.
It was the year when the TV series Suits, which made her name, started to air. And it was on September 10 she married her film producer boyfriend, Trevor Engelson.
They got hitched at Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, in front of 102 guests. They had been a couple for six years and Meghan, barefoot, was glowing in a stunning white dress.
The setting was pure romance: Jamaica Inn is an achingly luxurious resort perched on the edge of the Caribbean; very A-list and very chic.
A couple of years later – shortly before they separated – Meghan spoke of her love of the place and the ceremony. “It’s from the 1950s,” she said. “It’s just oldschool Hollywood and is so romantic. Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller used to have romantic jaunts here. It’s the only place I’ve cried when I had to leave. We just took over the whole place. “It’s tiny, but really special. I think there are tons of things you can do around the area but, for me, it’s just nice to go and lay around and eat awesome food and spend time in the ocean. I’m all for cultural experiences, but when you need a little rest and relaxation, this is 100% the place I want to go to.”
She’d met Trevor in 2004. On paper the pair seemed compatible. New Yorker Engelson also worked in the film industry: he started off as a production assistant on Deep Blue Sea, which starred Samuel L Jackson and LL Cool J, and became an agent at Endeavour Talent Agency.
But he decided to branch out on his own. He started his company Underground and moved into production and management.
He did well: Hollywood Reporter put him on its Next Gen Top 35 Under 35. LL Cool J even nicknamed him Trevity-Trev-Trev, a moniker Meghan began using. Sadly the marriage wasn’t to last, not least because of the pressures of a long-distance relationship. She was flitting around the world and spending much of the year in Canada filming Suits.
After 20 months of marriage, Meghan and Trevor separated and were later to divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
They kept it low-profile. She didn’t hire a lawyer, the case was uncontested and she waived her right to spousal support.
Neither has spoken publicly although there were rumours – hotly contested – that Meghan had become too close to Canadian ice hockey star Michael Del Zotto. Everyone involved point-blank denied any intimacy and a
Sadly she and Trevor separated after 20 months of marriage EMILY HERBERT ON MEGHAN’S FIRST HUBBY
close source said they had never been alone. But two pictures had been posted on social media showing them together after she had watched him playing with the New York Rangers. Meghan called him “the best”. A friend revealed: “Trevor was devastated at the split. She suddenly had no time for him. She said she was just friends with Michael. Her social media had pics and references but she deleted it all after divorcing.” Meghan was on the market once more. In 2014 the golfer Rory McIlroy nominated her to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for the ALS Association: she accepted on condition he threw the ice and water over her. The video shows her practically breathless with laughter. Their obvious chemistry and the fact they were spotted having dinner in Dublin gave rise to speculation, but they were never more than friends. In fact Meghan had met Cory Vitiello, who ran restaurants in Toronto (where her show Suits was filmed). The relationship was serious enough for them to move into a townhouse near a park where they walked their dogs, Guy and Bogart. She was clearly smitten. She was a real foodie, too. She once said: “The best job a man could have would be a chef. They’d understand the hours I work, and the drive and ambition it takes to succeed.”
But it was a man with whom she appeared to have little in common who would turn out to be her soulmate, the prince who would make her his princess.
They met through a friend in May 2016 when Harry was in Toronto for the Invictus Games. He bombarded her with texts until she agreed to go out with him.
By August, they were said to be head over heels in love.
Extracted from Harry & Meghan - The Love Story, by Emily Herbert, published by John Blake and priced £7.99.