Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III.

Meghan was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her acting career began at Northwestern University; her last and most significant screen role was that of Rachel Zane for seven seasons (2011–2018) in the American TV legal drama Suits. She also developed a social media presence. This included The Tig (2014–2017) lifestyle blog, which gained recognition for her fashion sense and led to the creation and release of two clothing lines in 2015–2016. During The Tig period, Meghan became involved in charity work focused primarily on women's issues and social justice. She was married to American film producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 until their divorce in 2014.

Meghan retired from acting upon her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 and became known as the Duchess of Sussex. They have two children, Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. In January 2020, the couple stepped down as working royals and later settled in California. In October 2020, they launched Archewell Inc., an American public organization that focuses on non-profit activities and creative media ventures. In the following years, she released a picture book for children, The Bench, and launched a Spotify podcast, Archetypes. Meghan and Harry filmed a highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast in March 2021, and a Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, which was released in December 2022.

Early relationships and first marriage Markle and American film producer Trevor Engelson began dating in 2004. They were married in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on August 16, 2011. They separated in July 2013 and concluded a no-fault divorce in February 2014, citing irreconcilable differences. Markle's subsequent live-in relationship with Canadian celebrity chef and restaurateur Cory Vitiello ended in May 2016 after almost two years.

Second marriage and motherhood Further information: Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Wedding dress of Meghan Markle

In mid-2016, Markle began a relationship with Prince Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. According to the couple, they first connected with each other via Instagram, though they have also said that they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in July 2016. On November 8, eight days after the relationship was made public by the press, the prince directed his communications secretary to release a statement on his behalf to express personal concern about pejorative and false comments made about his girlfriend by mainstream media and internet trolls. Later, in a letter to a British media regulator, Markle's representatives complained about harassment from journalists. In September 2017, Markle and Prince Harry appeared together in public in Toronto at the Invictus Games, of which Harry is founding patron.

Meghan Markle's engagement to Prince Harry was announced on November 27, 2017, by Harry's father Charles (then the Prince of Wales). The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm by the British media and prompted generally positive comments about a mixed-race person as a member of the royal family, especially in regard to Commonwealth countries. Markle announced that she would retire from acting, and her intention to become a British citizen.

In preparation for the wedding, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, baptized Markle and confirmed her in the Church of England on March 6, 2018. The private ceremony, performed with water from the River Jordan, took place in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. The marriage ceremony was held on May 19 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Her wedding dress was designed by Clare Waight Keller. Markle later revealed that there was a private exchange of vows three days earlier, with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the couple's garden. However, this private exchange of vows was not a legally recognized marriage. It was reportedly agreed in advance that excess funds generated from the BBC broadcast of the wedding ceremony would go to a charity chosen by the newlywed couple. In April 2020, Feeding Britain (which provides food packages to families in food poverty) was nominated to receive £90,000 from the BBC.

After the wedding, the Duke and Duchess lived at Nottingham Cottage within the grounds of Kensington Palace in London. In May 2018, it was reported that they had signed a two-year lease on WestfieldLarge, located on the Great Tew Estate in the Cotswolds. They gave up the lease after photos of the house and its interior were published by a paparazzi agency. The couple considered settling at the 21-bedroom Apartment 1 within the grounds of Kensington Palace, but instead moved to Frogmore Cottage in the Home Park of Windsor Castle. The Crown Estate refurbished the cottage at a cost of £2.4 million, paid out of the Sovereign Grant, with the Duke later reimbursing expenses beyond restoration and ordinary maintenance. Meghan gave birth to a son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, 2019. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's office moved to Buckingham Palace and officially closed on March 31, 2020, when the Sussexes withdrew from undertaking official royal engagements. After some months in Canada and the United States, in June 2020 the couple bought a house on the former estate of Riven Rock, Montecito, California. The next month, Meghan suffered a miscarriage. She gave birth to a daughter, Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, on June 4, 2021. The Duke and Duchess own a Labrador named Pula, and two Beagles named Guy and Mamma Mia. Meghan previously owned a Labrador-German Shepherd cross named Bogart, which was rehomed with a friend in Canada due to its inability to travel as a result of old age.

Meghan Duchess of Sussex Royalty -

Born August 4, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name Rachel Meghan Markle

Height 5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Bio (1) Rachel Meghan Markle is an US-born member of the British royal family and a former film and television actress.

Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California, and is of mixed-race heritage. During her studies at Northwestern University, she began to play small roles in television series and films. From 2011 to 2017, she played her best-known role, Rachel Zane, on the legal drama series Suits. As an outspoken feminist, Markle has addressed issues of gender inequality, and her lifestyle website, The Tig, featured a column profiling influential women. Her humanitarian work in the 2010s saw her represent international charity organizations. She has also received recognition for her fashion and style, releasing a clothing line in 2016.

From 2011 until their 2013 divorce, Markle was married to actor and producer Trevor Engelson. In 2017, she announced her engagement to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and moved to London. She consequently retired from acting, closed her social-media accounts, and started undertaking public engagements on behalf of the British royal family. Following their wedding on May 19, 2018, Markle received the title of Duchess of Sussex. After her and Harry's departure as working members of the Royal family, they no longer use their HRH titles in a professional capacity.

Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California, at West Park Hospital in Canoga Park. Her mother, Doria Loyce (Ragland), a social worker and yoga instructor, is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and lives in View Park Windsor Hills, California. Markle has often described a very close friendship with her mother. Her father, Thomas Wayne Markle, who lives in Rosarito, Mexico, is a retired Emmy Award winning television director of photography and lighting director, whose profession resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of "Married...with Children." Markle's parents divorced when she was six years old. She has two older paternal half-siblings, Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle, from whom she is reportedly estranged.

Describing her heritage in a 2015 essay for Elle, Markle states that her "dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white ... While my mixed heritage may have created a gray area surrounding my self identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed race woman." Her father's roots include German, English, Irish, and Scottish. Her mother has family lines in Tennessee and Georgia.

Markle grew up in Hollywood. She was educated at private schools, beginning at age two at Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse. Markle attended Immaculate Heart High School, a girls' Catholic private school in Los Angeles, but was raised as a Protestant. She then attended Northwestern University, where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and participated in community service and charity projects. While at Northwestern, her uncle obtained an internship for her at the American embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Markle studied for a semester in Madrid, Spain. Markle graduated from Northwestern's School of Communication in 2003 with a bachelor's degree and a double major in theater and international studies.

Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher to support herself between early acting jobs. Her first onscreen appearance was a small role as a nurse in an episode of the daytime soap opera General Hospital (1963), where her father was lighting director. Early in her career, Markle had small guest roles on the television shows Century City (2004), The War at Home (2005), and CSI: NY (2004). She also took on several contract acting and modeling jobs, including a stint as a "briefcase girl" on the US game show Deal or No Deal (2005). She appeared in Fox's series Fringe (2008) as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season. Markle had some difficulty getting roles early in her career. In 2015, she wrote: "Being 'ethnically ambiguous', as I was pegged in the industry, meant I could audition for virtually any role. Sadly, it didn't matter: I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn't book a job."

In July 2011, Markle joined the cast of the USA Network show Suits (2011), playing Rachel Zane. The character began as a paralegal and eventually became an attorney. She completed work on the seventh season in late 2017. According to a critique in The Irish Times, Markle deftly and actively re-positioned her character from ingenue to moral conscience and gave viewers the unique portrayal of a daughter, whose African American father is in a position to help her career and advance her strong desire to break several racial and gender "glass ceilings". She appeared in two 2010 films, Get Him to the Greek (2010) and Remember Me (2010), and one 2011 film, Horrible Bosses (2011). She also appeared in episodes of Cuts (2005); Love, Inc. (2005); 90210 (2008); Knight Rider (2008); Without a Trace (2002); The League (2009); and Castle (2009).

From 2014 to 2017, Markle was founder and editor in chief of lifestyle website The Tig. She derived the name from Tignanello red wine. One of The Tig's features was Tig Talk, a column that profiled women including Jessica Alba, Gail Simmons, Ella Woodward, Daphne Oz, Elizabeth Hurley, Lauren Bush Lauren, Ivanka Trump, Dianna Agron, and Jessica Stam. In April 2017, she closed The Tig. Markle developed an adept and polished social media presence at the time of its closing, her Instagram account had 1.9 million followers. In January 2018, Markle deleted her social media accounts and, in a statement issued by Kensington Palace, thanked "everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years".

- IMDb Mini Biography By: ahmetkozan

Prince Harry (19 May 2018 - present) (2 children)

Trevor Engelson (16 August 2011 - 7 March 2014) (divorced)

Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor

Thomas W. Markle

Doria Ragland

Samantha Grant Markle (half sibling)

Thomas Markle Jr. (half sibling)

For a scene in A Lot Like Love (2005), the 2nd A.D. had to teach her how to drive stick shift just an hour before filming.

Attended Northwestern University, where she majored in theater and international relations. After graduating, she worked for the U.S embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Meghan's father is white and has German, English, Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and remote French ancestry. He has Colonial American (largely English) roots going back to the 1600s, particularly in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Meghan's mother is African-American and has family lines in Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia.

She was born on the same day as her Suits (2011) co-star Abigail Spencer: August 4, 1981.

Is an avid foodie whose culinary skills were woven into the home skills of her character, Rachel, in Suits (2011).

Ran a food blog website, The Tig, from May 2014 until 2017, about food, travel, fashion, and beauty. The website name was inspired by an Italian red wine, Tignanello.

Is 16 years younger than her paternal half-sister, Samantha Grant Markle, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2008, and 15 years younger than her paternal half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr..

Counts businesswoman and network executive Bonnie Hammer as a major mentor for her career both on and off the screen.

Traveled to Botswana for three weeks with Prince Harry to celebrate her 36th birthday. [August 2017]

Grew up in the View Park-Windsor Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, sometimes known as 'Black Beverly Hills'.

The engagement ring created by Queen Elizabeth II's preferred jeweler "Cleave and Company" features the main stone (sourced in Botswana) set on a yellow gold band surrounded by two diamonds from the late Princess Diana's personal jewelry collection.

In May 2016 Meghan was introduced to Prince Harry by mutual friend Markus Anderson, Toronto-based consultant for private members only clubs "Soho House" where Harry had been a VIP member. Meghan had long known Anderson, a man who had often been referred to as "King of Soho House".

Prince Harry and Meghan publicly announced their engagement Monday, November 27, 2017. The wedding took place on May 19 2018 at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Friends with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Serena Williams.

No longer friends with Jessica Mulroney.

Stated on "The Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (the 8 August 2013 episode) that because her father Thomas W. Markle was director of photography on Married... with Children (1987) (198 episodes, 1988-1996), she spent a lot of time, hanging around on set watching her dad at work, after her day at Catholic school.

British biographer Andrew Morton who wrote the 1992 bestseller "Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words" about the late Princess Diana, also wrote the 2018 biography "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess".

A month before her wedding to Prince Harry, she was on TIME magazine's The 100 Most Influential People (leaders) with a homage penned by her friend Priyanka Chopra Jonas [April 2018].

Meghan's lavish wedding dress was by Givenchy designer Clare Waight Keller. The bride wore Queen Mary's diamond tiara courtesy of Queen Elizabeth II. After the reception the bride changed into a less formal Stella McCartney dress.

Cellist virtuoso Sheku Kanneh-Mason performed 3 classical music pieces for the occasion of her wedding ceremonies with Prince Harry.

The Dean of Windsor Rev David Conner supervised the ceremony. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby oversaw the marital vows.

Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir performed the song "Stand by Me" during the church ceremonies.

She fangirled over Yasmine Bleeth when she came into the frozen yogurt shop she was working in at the age of 14. Yasmine's understated gratitude to her taught her how to handle her own fan encounters.

She wrote to Proctor & Gamble the makers of Joy dish washing liquid at 11 years old and asked them to use gender-neutral language when describing the people who use their products.

She is a self-confessed feminist.

Alexi Lubomirski was the official photographer of the Prince Harry & Meghan Duchess of Sussex Royal Wedding. The wedding was the very first royal nuptial to be broadcast live in Ultra HD 4K resolution.

Upon her marriage to Prince Harry at age 36 she became the oldest-ever royal bride for a member of the royal family's first marriage in British history, surpassing her sister-in-law Catherine Princess of Wales, who was 29 when she married Prince William of Wales. Meghan's stepmother-in-law Camilla Queen Consort was technically the oldest royal bride ever at age 57 when she married King Charles III, though it was the second marriage for both.

Her full titles upon marriage to Prince Harry: "HRH Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Countess of Dumbarton, Baroness Kilkeel".

She acted alongside Russell Brand in the 2010 comedy Get Him to the Greek.

Her uncle Michael Markle got her a job working at a U.S. Embassy after she had earned a degree in international relations.

Has 2 children: son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor (b. May 6, 2019) and daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor (b. June 4, 2021) with her husband, Prince Harry.

She is the second American to marry into the British royal family and receive a title ("The Duchess of Sussex"), following Wallis Simpson, who obtained the title Duchess of Windsor after her marriage to Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward Vlll), who abdicated the throne to do so. Unlike Wallis, Meghan was granted the status of a British princess, which allowed her to use the style "Her Royal Highness", becoming the first American to use the style.

Other Americans who married royalites were Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly, Queen Noor, Kristin J. White, Kendra Spears, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, Alexandra Miller, Lee Radziwill, Kelly Rondestvedt, Hope Cooke, Sarah Butler, Alison Kay, Alana C. Bunte, Olivia Wilde, Christopher O'Neill and Elizabeth Hoag.

In 2020, she became the first member of the British royal family to vote in a U.S. presidential election. Although royals are not forbidden to vote in elections by any law, royal protocol forbids voting to maintain political neutrality, though it has never been clarified if this rule also applies to elections outside the UK and the Commonwealth.

Began the process of applying for UK citizenship in November 2017 after she became engaged to Prince Harry, though in 2020 she abandoned the process by moving back to the US.

Born to Doria Ragland.

Born at 4:46 AM (PDT).

In 2018, before her marriage to Prince Harry, she converted to the Church of England and was baptized and confirmed. She was raised as an Episcopalian, which is an offshoot of the Church of England.

She has often claimed she had no idea how to curtsy prior to her first meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 and had to quickly learn to curtsy moments before, though years earlier in a scene in Suits (2011), her character Rachel Zane performs a (rather shallow) curtsy.

I would love to do anything from a really gritty, interesting, indie type film, to that commercial, bigger stuff.

I'm a California girl, right? I grew up with that farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation.

Catty is not cool. I can't think of anything less becoming than a man who talks about people behind their backs.

For work I get so dolled up that it's nice to wear boyfriend jeans and a sweater.

I always want off-the-beaten-path, Anthony Bourdain-inspired travel.

My dad's a lighting director. Growing up in Hollywood, I was around the entertainment industry all the time. I knew I'd end up in show business in some capacity, eventually.

I do think there's some value to really throwing yourself into food and embracing where it comes from.

I went to an all-girls' Catholic school for, like, six years during the time when kids actually had handwriting class. I've always had a propensity for getting the cursive down pretty well.

I'm from L.A., so I'm used to seeing people in sunglasses and flip-flops. There's something so romantic about a man in a scarf and a knitted hat.

I had always been the theater nerd at Northwestern University. I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this cliché - a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress. I wanted more than that, and I had always loved politics, so I ended up changing my major completely, and double-majoring in theater and international relations.

I think so much of what we learn when we get older is being comfortable in our own skin and learning what looks good, and not being so trend-centric.

Definitely working on Deal or No Deal (2005) was a learning experience, and it helped me to understand what I would rather be doing.

Barcelona is one of the best cities in the world. I love it there. I love Big Sur. It's stunning and you get a therapeutic experience there. The drive up the coast is one of the most beautiful I've ever done. Also, Hong Kong. I could easily live there!

At the end of the day, if the guy is going to write the girl a letter, whether it's chicken scratch or scribble or looks like a doctor's note, if he takes the time to put pen to paper and not type something, there's something so incredibly romantic and beautiful about that.

Food makes travel so exceptional, because you get to taste what it's actually supposed to taste like. To eat the real Pad Thai or finally have a proper curry is something pretty amazing.

When I get ready to go out, it's half hour and we're out of the door. I don't want to waste time getting ready: I want to go and have fun.

I grew up with that farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation. I do think there's some value to really throwing yourself into food and embracing where it comes from.

I am a California girl, born and raised, so flip-flops and cutoff shorts are my go-to look. An easy Angeleno uniform, so to speak. But for my role on Suits (2011), I'm dressed in Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, and Prada almost every day. And therein lies the difference. For work, I wear art; in real life, I wear clothes.

Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of Married... with Children (1987), which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up.

My very first audition was for 'Hot Girl #1' in some movie.

I had always been the theater nerd at Northwestern University. I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this cliché - a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress.

I've always had a propensity for getting the cursive down pretty well. What it evolved into was my pseudo-waitressing job when I was auditioning. I didn't wait tables. I did calligraphy for the invitations for, like, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's wedding.

My God, I think about way back in the day when we were running around in Mary Janes and Doc Martens, that whole 90210-inspired look. I'm glad that's long gone.

Traveling gives you some perspective of what the rest of the world is like. I think that having the courage to step out of the norm is the most important thing.

What's funny is I probably still have some calligraphy business cards floating out in the world, and I can't wait for someone to call me in a month or something, and say, 'Can you do these for my son's Bar Mitzvah?'

I don't read any press. The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise.

[on her relationship with Prince Harry] I'm still the same person that I am, and I've never defined myself by my relationship.

[on her relationship with Prince Harry] We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time. And the only thing that changed was people's perception. Nothing about me changed.

[on her relationship with Prince Harry] We're in love. I'm sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time.

[on her relationship with Prince Harry] This is for us. It's part of what makes it so special, that it's just ours. But we're happy. Personally, I love a great love story.

Women don't need to find a voice. They have a voice. They need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.

[on being a bi-racial actress] I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon.

[For the New York Magazine's The Cut, stating what aS outh African cast member of Disney’s live-action version of “The Lion King” told her at the 2019 premiere, regarding her wedding to Harry] He said, ¨I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison."

[on how meaningful the TV show Jeopardy and its host were as a daily part of her life] You guys, when Alex Trebek passed away, I started to receive texts of condolence.

Deal or No Deal (2005) $800 per episode

Suits (2011) $50,000 per episode