Just like Meghan, we married for the second time

When the US actress walks down the aisle at the weekend, it will be as a divorcee. Two Northern Ireland women tell Karen Ireland why a failed first marriage didn’t deter them from getting hitched again — and why they think it can work out better next time

When Prince Harry weds Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle this Saturday, it will be his first marriage but second time round for her.

The American actress was previously married to film producer Trevor Engelson. The couple first met in 2004 and after being together for six years, they got engaged in 2010.

They tied the knot on September 10, 2011, when she was 30 years old, at the Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The wedding was an extravagant affair — and very different to the royal occasion set to take place this weekend. The ceremony took place in front of 102 guests, with celebrations lasting four days. Photos have since emerged showing drinking games on the beach in the run up to the big day.

Just two years after their wed- ding, Meghan (36) and Trevor were divorced in August 2013, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

One source has claimed that Meghan’s flourishing career as Rachel Zane on hit TV show Suits was to blame for the split: “Meghan landed her role in Suits just a few months before they married. And despite being together for six years before getting hitched, things started to fall apart not long after the wedding.”

Another pal told reporters: “They really battled with long distances. Trevor was based in LA while Meghan was in Toronto, a five-hour flight away. It was a very difficult way to start married life.”

But a new book, Meghan, A Hollywood Princess, by Andrew Morton, suggests that the end of the marriage came as something of a shock to Trevor. He also claims that Meghan posted her wedding and engagement rings back to Trevor.

Morton writes: “Whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not, Meghan, who once said she couldn’t imagine life without Trevor by her side, was now building a new world for herself.

“As Toronto was becoming more her home than LA, the dynamics in their relationship subtly altered.

“She was her own woman now, earning a steady income, making new friends on set and off, no longer dependent on her husband’s connections.”

Engelson, who is perhaps bestknown for producing Remember Me, a 2010 tearjerker starring Robert Pattinson and featuring Meghan in a cameo role, has not spoken about his ex-wife’s new relationship, but Ms Markle’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jnr blamed their divorce on “the pressure of Hollywood”.

Will the fact she has been wed before proved a help or hindrance as she navigates the extremely tricky role of royal wife in the months to come?