7 things you didn’t know about Meghan Markle

From well-known actress to 'princess-to-be', who is Meghan Markle?
1/40

A year ago, the Royal Family did something unprecedented.

Prince Harry released a statement both confirming his relationship with US actress Meghan Markle and asking the press to please respect their privacy.

While there was fanfare around the couple for some time, it eventually died down as the happy pair went on with their lives - and now they're engaged.

Before last November, Markle was a well-known actress, but now she is a household name and princess-to-be. Yet, she is still shrouded with mystery.

Who is the 36-year-old that has stolen Harry’s heart? Here are seven things you might not know about Meghan Markle:

1. She met Harry through his old school friend

The Suits actress is close friends with designer Misha Nonoo who was married to Alexander Gilkes, one of Harry’s old school friends. Gilkes has many ties to the Royal Family as he attended Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in 2011 and also employed Princess Eugenie for a time.

The pair were reportedly introduced and the rest, as they say, is history. Who needs Tinder when you have friends in high places?

2. Meghan is not her birth name

Like her character on Suits, Meghan’s real name is Rachel - so her full name is Rachel Meghan Markle. Markle has never revealed whether she has always gone by her middle name or if it is a stage name.

3. She was the most-Googled actress of 2016

While this will probably come as no surprise, once it was revealed the pair were dating, those who hadn’t seen Suits needed to know everything.

4. She’s best friends with Serena Williams

The unlikely pair met playing a charity football match and now Markle makes sure to support her pal at grand slams. Who knows, Serena might even be standing next to Meghan at the end of the aisle if wedding bells are to come …

Meghan Markle: The Duchess of Sussex - style file

1/110

5. She was a Deal or No Deal girl

Before her big break on Suits, Meghan was a “briefcase girl” on Deal or No Deal. Hard work really does pay off.

6. Prince Harry had a crush on Meghan for two years before they met

Royal expert, Katie Nicholl revealed in the Channel 4 documentary When Harry Met Meghan that on a night out a couple of years ago, Harry was asked who his ideal woman was. His answer? “Meghan Markle from Suits”. The perks of being a Prince …

Meghan Markle
World Vision

7. She’s an ambassador for World Vision

One of the things that reportedly drew Harry and Meghan together was their shared love for charity work.

Meghan became a World Vision Global Ambassador in 2016 after travelling to Rwanda to help with a new clean water pipeline.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in