Revealed: The secrets of Meghan’s Maltese heritage
How her Irish ancestors moved to the island before heading to America
IT has been a little-known part of her intriguing family history... until now.
The Duchess of Sussex has spoken of her special feelings for Malta and its people and revealed that her great-greatgrandmother was born there.
Now the Daily Mail can fill in some of the missing pieces in her connection to the Mediterranean island – and to Windsor Castle. This week, a picture of her emerged wearing a ghonnella, a traditional Maltese cloak.
It was taken when Meghan Markle, then a US actress, made a trip there in 2015 – the year before she met husband Prince Harry. She sampled the food and posed for pictures. In a candid interview, she said the trip was ‘about trying to understand where I come from’ and ‘fitting in a piece of the puzzle’.
According to research carried out by the Daily Mail, the tale of her link to Malta begins in mid19th century Ireland with her great-great-great-grandmother Mary Bird, nee Smith.
Having moved from Ireland, Mary is thought to have worked in the kitchens of Windsor Castle as a teenager, around 160 years before Meghan married there.
Mary married Irish shoemaker Thomas Bird, a decorated British Army officer with the 2nd Cheshire foot regiment who served in Ireland and India. The couple moved to Malta with the Army. They had two children on the island, including Meghan’s greatgreat-grandmother Mary in 1862.
The family spent 20 years in Malta, which at the time was thriving culturally and economically as a key stop on the trade route from Britain to India.
The Birds migrated around 1881, first to Canada, then to Meredith, New Hampshire. Young Mary married George Merrill. Records show the couple had nine children, including Meghan’s great-grandmother Gertrude.
In 1907, Gertrude married Frederick Sanders and they had four children, including a daughter Doris in July 1920. In March 1941, Doris Sanders married gas station owner Gordon Markle. In 1944, they had a son Thomas Markle – Meghan’s controversial father.
Prince Harry shares a connection with Malta. His grandparents lived there from 1949 to 1951 when Prince Philip was First Lieutenant on HMS Chequers and took his wife, then Princess Elizabeth.
Meghan visited the island three years ago when she took part in a photoshoot for Elle UK magazine. She described the ‘bucolic bliss’ of the Maltese countryside in an Instagram post at the time.
The island is clearly important to her – the Maltese rock-centaury was among the national flowers embroidered on her wedding veil in May. Meghan said in the 2015 interview: ‘To come somewhere where you so quickly settle in to feeling welcomed is really special... I started to say, “Oh my gosh I do sort of blend in”.’
The photo of Meghan in a cloak was posted online this week by Majesty magazine and printed in yesterday’s Daily Mail.