The princess diaries

1. An aspiring actress, the 22-year-old Markle posed vacantly and in a vest in 2003. Prince Harry, meanwhile, had just left Eton and set off for his polo-playing and rugby-watching gap year in Australia.

2. In 2006, Markle appeared at a charity event wearing the top half of an outfit a politician might choose for Remembrance Sunday, and the bottom half of an outfit a suburban mum might pop on for parents’ evening. Let’s call it ‘smart casual’.

3. By 2007, Markle was on her way to becoming an established actor and savvy entrepreneur. Here she is, for instance, wearing a dress evidently sponsored by Guinness.

4. In a peach number in 2010, a love of retail therapy was captured at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Probably wise to keep the public shopping trips in London to a minimum. And if she wants to know why, she can ask Grace Mugabe.

5. For the 2013 Women in TV Celebration, Markle, then a woman in the TV show

Suits, stood on the red carpet like a teapot. Was this the first sign she was attempting to charm the British?

6. Markle appeared in an entirely metallic party dress for an awards show in 2015. Or perhaps she was auditioning to play the

Tin Man in a remake of

The Wizard of Oz.

7. A sure sign that the special relationship was back on track, Markle channelled Theresa May at an AOL event last year, wearing vegan ‘leather’ trousers. Wait till she hears about bearskin hats.

8. And finally, here she is in a simple shirt and jeans at the Invictus Games in September, remembering the past 14 years with an incredulous smile. Markle must look back and wonder just how it all happened. Particularly that 2006 outfit.