The world was formally introduced to the love story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in September 2017. “I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple,” began Markle’s life-changing words to Vanity Fair. “We’re two people who are really happy and in love.” It was a fitting commencement to the tale that has had the world hooked ever since, and encapsulates its essence: when it comes down to it, this is simply a great love story.
Before meeting her Prince, becoming royalty and starting a family of her own, Markle was a successful American actress and activist who knew little about the British Royal Family she would one day join. Born in Los Angeles to Doria Ragland, a former social worker and yoga instructor, and Thomas Markle, a retired TV lighting director, Markle had been living in Toronto, Canada, where she worked on the TV legal drama Suits.
She complemented her acting career with a lifestyle blog, The Tig, where she recorded her impassioned humanitarian efforts, as well as her love of food, travel and fashion. In 2015, Markle was named the United Nations Women’s Advocate for Women’s Political Participation and Leadership. The same year, she penned an essay on race, feminism and personal identity (all topics close to her heart), which went viral. The future duchess was already influential in her own right and undoubtedly a modern royal consort in the making.
Markle’s life as she knew it changed forever when she was famously set up on a blind date in July 2016 with Prince Harry, the son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the late Princess Diana. Later, Markle revealed that she asked the friend responsible for the set-up only one question: “Is he nice? Because if he wasn’t kind I didn’t really see there was any point.”
She later shared that the spark was instant. “We met for a drink, and then, I think very quickly into that we said: ‘Well, what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again.’”
A whirlwind trip to Botswana followed a few weeks later, and the slow burn of a transatlantic romance began to unfold. Four months after their fateful first date, the press caught up. Prince Harry released an unprecedented statement defending his girlfriend against the intense media interest that had started to put immense pressure on the relationship. Yet Markle seemed to straddle the two worlds of celebrity and royalty with aplomb, telling Vanity Fair: “The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise.”
Nearly a year later, on November 27, 2017, Kensington Palace announced the couple’s engagement. “The noise”, as Markle had described it, was finally put to rest. The Queen had granted permission for their wedding, which would take place the following May.
In the lead-up to the wedding day, the Royal Family, who would soon become Markle’s own, embraced her. She attended dozens of public engagements with her fiancé, quickly learning what it meant to be royalty. She carved out a wardrobe that was more appropriate for her future life as a duchess, adopting full-length skirts, belted coats and printed dresses.
On May 19, 2018, about two billion people watched as Markle, named the Duchess of Sussex that morning, walked down the aisle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, to marry her Prince. Her wedding dress was a custom Givenchy gown designed by Clare Waight Keller, worn with Queen Mary’s sparkling bandeau tiara, which dates back to 1932.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding day signalled that this was very much a modern romance. It was quite personal, history-making, and broke numerous protocols along the way. The ceremony uniquely represented their union—that of a British Prince and a biracial woman from California.
