Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s strategic move at the Invictus Games
THEIR relationship has been shrouded in secrecy until now. Royal watchers are now waiting for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to take the next step.
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PRINCE Harry and Hollywood actor Meghan Markle have made their first official public appearance together, over several days of the Invictus Games in Toronto this week, prompting speculation that a royal engagement is now closer than ever.
In a carefully orchestrated appearance, Ms Markle, 36, arrived at the opening ceremony of the sporting event for injured defence personnel, founded by Prince Harry, but kept a discreet distance, sitting several rows away from her boyfriend.
Dressed in a maroon, pleated dress and matching leather bomber jacket by Canadian designer, Mackage, the brunette star looked effortlessly chic as she cheered Prince Harry on in the Toronto Air Canada Centre, after his opening speech.
In a milestone royal watchers have been waiting months for, the American actor and humanitarian attended several sporting events hand-in-hand with her prince charming, including a cosy encounter on the side lines of a wheelchair tennis match between Australia and New Zealand on Monday.
Dressed in ripped jeans and a casual white designer blouse, reportedly named ‘the Husband shirt’, by designer Misha Nonoo, Ms Markle appeared completely at ease in the royal spotlight, a role she may have to get used to if she plans to marry Prince Harry, 33.
The couple, who have been dating for over a year, were seen holding hands and giggling together, surrounded at all times by a royal security detail.
The news has led the British news for days, with reports claiming Ms Markle, who is currently based in Toronto for her work on the television legal drama Suits, was a welcome addition to the 4th annual Invictus Games and pulled off her public debut in style.
The pair’s obvious and natural affection for one another has confirmed speculation that a royal engagement is just around the corner.
Ms Markle would be the first American divorcee to marry into the British Royal Family since Wallis Simpson’s controversial betrothal to King Edward VIII, 80 years ago.
But unlike her predecessor, whose husband abdicated the throne for love, the actor won’t cause a constitutional crisis.
Arguably the most popular British Royal, some of Prince Harry’s former girlfriends have fallen prey to the relentless media storm surrounding them.
While Ms Markle has also felt the pressure of dating the famous Prince, she seems to have taken the unwanted attention much more in her stride, perhaps as she is more accustomed to a life in the spotlight.
The star was born and raised in Los Angeles and began dating Prince Harry in July 2016, following an introduction through friends.
As their relationship developed, Ms Markle, who began her acting career as a ‘briefcase girl’ on the game show Deal or No Deal, was also learning to cope with her rising popularity as an actor and humanitarian in her own right.
In just over twelve months, the young couple was hounded by relentless paparazzi, eager to satisfy the public’s insatiable appetite for royal gossip.
Despite the attention, which often left the pair under siege, Prince Harry whisked Ms Markle to Botswana, for her 36th birthday in August, and the pair celebrate his 33rd birthday together in London this month.
Current legislation dictates that the first six people in the Royal line of succession must seek the permission of the monarch in order to marry.
As sixth-in-line to the throne, behind Catherine Middelton’s unborn child, Prince Harry will still have needed to seek his grandmother’s permission to wed Ms Markle.
The royal engagement will make Ms Markle the first American to marry a British Royal since divorcee Wallis Simpson, who was married three times before she met King Edward, and the pair’s desire to marry plunged the royal family into a constitutional crisis.
King Edward abdicated in order to marry Ms Simpson, placing his brother George on the throne and changing the course of royal history.
Ms Markle split from her former husband, film producer Trevor Engelson, in 2013, after just two-years of marriage.
The royal couple’s first major hurdle will be to convince Queen Elizabeth to sanction their union and ignore an ancient edict which precludes divorcees from marrying monarchs.
The Queen has shown leniency in the past, permitting the 2005 wedding of her own son, Prince Charles, to Camilla Parker Bowles, following her divorce from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, in 1995.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in September, Ms Markle discussed her relationship briefly, saying that being in the public eye “has its challenges and it comes in waves”.
“Some days it can feel more challenging than others,” she told Vanity Fair.
“We’re two people who are really happy and in love,
“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”.
Prince Harry’s personal life has always been a source of public discussion, which he has staunchly defended throughout the years.
The growing curiosity surrounding Ms Markle at one point became so intense that the Prince released a statement through his communications secretary, in November 2016, in an unprecedented move for a member of the typically discreet Royal Family.
“Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment,” the statement said.
“Some of this has been very public - the smear on the front page of a national newspaper, the racial undertones of comment pieces, and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments”.
The statement referred to “nightly legal battles” with media outlets to keep inaccurate stories out of the public discourse as well as Ms Markle’s own family forced to push past photographers at the doors of her home in the US.
Several months after the statement was issued, the pair appeared together at Pippa Middleton’s lavish wedding reception, in country England this year, providing further signs that they were an item.
Since then, the Royal family has remained tight-lipped about the future of the young Prince and his intended bride.
rhian.deutrom@news.com.au
Originally published as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s strategic move at the Invictus Games
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