What happens next for a princess in waiting?
With rumour mills in overdrive, Eleanor Steafel asks what Meghan Markle can expect as she moves across the pond
Will Meghan Markle – who is said to be arranging for her dogs, a beagle called Guy and a labrador-shepherd cross called Bogart, to be sent to join her across the pond – be in for a simple life of dog walks in Kensington Gardens, shopping trips on the King’s Road, and dinner parties at Nottingham Cottage?
The countdown began this time last year. In November 2016, in a break with tradition, Prince Harry released a statement confirming his relationship with the American actress, imploring the press to cease their hounding of her. “This is not a game,” he said, “it is her life.”
It was a move that many felt was typical of a prince who has such a profound connection with the British public. He was appealing to “fair-minded people” who would understand that he merely wished to protect his beloved. A slap on the wrist to the international press well and truly delivered, it was clear that this was no fling. Could an engagement be imminent?
Last December, there was the sighting of the couple buying a Christmas tree in Battersea Park – was the prince planning a festive announcement? Then came rumours of a private meeting with the Queen
Luckily, Meghan is said to be very much “in” with the Prince’s crowd already
‘Meghan is a showbiz person so they’re likely to be in the slightly more fun, fast set’
at Balmoral. Perfectly natural, royal commentators said, that he would want Granny’s blessing. Then there were the love-filled looks at the Invictus Games in Toronto. And this week, a flurry of articles filled the American gossip columns as speculation mounted that the prince had proposed.
This week, reports told of removals vans at Markle’s Toronto apartment. “Movers were seen there yesterday and today,” said Us Weekly. “Meghan has officially moved out.” Then came rumours that Markle had resigned her day job and would no longer appear in Suits, the legal drama that made her name – a clear sign, sources said, that she was preparing to move to London to live with her beau and become ensconced in the Royal circle. Meanwhile in the UK, on Thursday, bookmakers stopped taking bets on the couple’s engagement amid rumours that the BBC had been primed for an announcement. William Hill received a request from a member of the public on Wednesday morning asking for odds on the couple already having married.
A secret elopement certainly would be an incredible break with royal tradition. More likely, say watchers, is that the prince proposed in August while the couple were on holiday in Africa and chose to keep the engagement quiet. His brother proposed while holidaying in Kenya, with Clarence House announcing the news a month later.
Some have speculated that an announcement could be imminent if the prince hopes to bring his girlfriend to Christmas at Sandringham, although protocol and tradition dictate that only spouses are permitted to join the Royal family for the festivities. Nonetheless, the latest odds at the time of going to press put the likelihood of Markle spending Christmas Day with the Queen at 8/11.
Other commentators say the couple wouldn’t dream of setting a date until after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have welcomed their third child, due in April next year – and so the waiting game continues. If indeed we have a little while to go before Prince Harry becomes the second royal to become engaged to an American divorcee, what do the coming weeks look like for Meghan?
She will live, it is thought, at Nottingham Cottage on the Kensington Palace estate, where the prince has lived for some time; the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lived there before they had children. It has been the perfect base for the prince as it’s private, but still only a stone’s throw away from his brother and sister-in-law, who live in Apartment 1a, the 22-room former home of Princess Margaret.
It will make the ideal first home for the couple, says Prince Harry’s biographer, Penny Junor. “It has everything going for it. It’s in the centre of London so she can go off shopping and do whatever she wants. It’s secure.”
Many speculate that they won’t stay in London for long. Matthew Bell, commissioning editor at Tatler, says the couple run in different social circles to the Duke and Duchess: “Kate and William go to Anmer in Norfolk to escape, but Harry likes hanging out with more showbiz people. Meghan is that, a showbiz person, so they’re more likely to be in the slightly more fun, fast set. There’s talk of him possibly getting somewhere in the Cotswolds because they like celebrity retreat Soho Farmhouse. I think that’s quite telling. It’s basically London out there – it’s not really the countryside at all.”
Their main base will continue to be Kensington Palace, where they will live in close quarters with the Royal family when they’re in London. “My understanding is that they’re very happy for him. Everybody wants to see Harry settled with someone that makes him happy,” says Junor, who thinks Meghan will be keen to use her position (if she does indeed become a member of the Royal family) to do good. “They are both people who are committed to making the world a better place. I think they’ll be quite an extraordinary double act.”
If Meghan is to make her life on this side of the pond in full glare of the Royal spotlight, she will need a tight circle of trusted friends. Luckily, she is said to be very much “in” with the prince’s crowd already. The couple first met through a mutual friend – Markus Anderson, the Toronto-based consultant for private members’ club Soho House, who is reported to have facilitated the early stages of their relationship, with much of their time together spent at Soho Houses around the world.
Meghan counts Misha Nonoo, who used to be married to Alexander Gilkes, Old Etonian and friend of the princes, among her closest friends. And when she attended the wedding of Harry’s close pal Tom “Skippy” Inskip to Lara Hughes-young this summer, reports revealed that Lara had been singing Meghan’s praises for months.
“Harry still has the same friends he’s always had,” says Bell. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he adapted more to her social life, as opposed to the other way round.”
And what will happen when the announcement finally comes? Are we in for a repeat of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wonderfully lavish wedding? Not likely, says Junor. “That kind of fullblown ceremonial affair would sit uncomfortably with him.”
So, perhaps the couple have a few months yet to make a new life together – before they plan the most low-key Royal wedding of the century.