HARRY’S NEW GIRL HAS DARK PAST

Actress Meghan Markle is already scandalizing new love Prince Harry and his family

Prince Harry has finally met his match. After years of dating party girls and socialites, friends say the playboy prince, 32, is madly in love with the woman he’s been secretly seeing since the summer: Suits actress and humanitarian Meghan Markle, 35. “He’s happier than he’s been for many years,” a friend tells In Touch. “He’s told pals Meghan is the one, and she feels the same.”

But her past is threatening to derail his happily ever after. Not only is Meghan an American who was born and bred in LA, but she’s divorced and comes from a family teeming with drama. “Queen Elizabeth is mortified that Harry’s in a relationship with a divorcée who strips off for TV dramas. She’s also concerned that Meghan could be after Harry’s money,” says a source. “She has inferred that the new girlfriend doesn’t fit in with The Firm [the royal family].”

Meghan and her family aren’t exactly high- society types. She filed for divorce from her first husband, producer Trevor Engelson, 40, in 2013 after less than two years of marriage. And this June, right around the time she and Harry started seeing each other, Meghan’s father, Thomas (who was divorced from her mom when Meghan was 6), filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing nearly $30,000 in debts.

Then, after news of the romance broke on Oct. 30, Meghan’s half sister, Samantha, who uses a wheelchair, went public to brand her sibling a shallow social climber. “I am not sure how the queen would feel about someone who shuns their own family. Meghan is narcissistic and selfish,” Samantha said. “I think the royal family would be appalled.” ( Meghan’s half brother, Thomas Jr., however, defended her: “Meghan didn’t turn her back on everybody in the family, and it’s not her responsibility to take care of everyone. She’s worked very hard to get where

she’s at.”)

The queen, 90, finds this kind of negative publicity incredibly unseemly. “She was initially shocked when she learned Prince William was dating Kate Middleton and never expected her grandson to marry someone so common and middle class, but Harry’s taking things to the next level,” says the source. “In Elizabeth’s eyes, life would be much simpler if Harry dated a socialite who comes from money and doesn’t have a sketchy family history. Still, Harry’s convinced that once his grandmother really gets to know Meghan, she’ll give the actress her seal of approval, just as she eventually did with Kate.”

His brother already has. “William and Kate really liked Meghan,” says his friend. “She fit in right away.” Meghan reportedly even charmed Harry’s father, Prince Charles, during a secret September getaway at the royals’ Scottish estate, Balmoral. Still, explains the source, “Charles is torn between what his mother wants and Harry’s happiness.”

For Harry, this romance is the real deal. “Harry’s crazy about Meghan and blinded by love right now. Those close to him say they wouldn’t be surprised if he proposed early next year,” says the source. “It’s too bad the queen feels differently. But she is totally against Harry being with someone so far beneath him.” ◼