Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, became a household name following her marriage to Prince Harry. But she definitely wasn't unknown before they met - the successful actress and writer was firmly in the spotlight already.
Despite this, there are plenty of little-known facts about Meghan that you may not know. From unique jobs such as calligraphy to guest spots on surprising TV shows, Meghan has lived a very interesting life.
We let you in on 32 facts about the royal that you may not have known, including her real name and some very sweet details about the early days of her budding romance with Harry...
32 facts about Meghan Markle's pre-royal life
She was in Suits
While this isn’t the most little-known fact about Meghan, it’s easy to forget that before she was a royal, the actress was famous for starring in a hit TV show. Markle played Rachel Zane and she’s still friends with plenty of her co-stars today.
She grew up on TV sets
Meghan became a household name when she officially entered the royal family in 2018, but her life wasn’t exactly quiet up until that point. Her dad, Thomas Markle, was a lighting director when Meghan was growing up in Los Angeles, and he would often bring her to set. She told Esquire in 2013, “Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of Married… with Children, which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up.”
She studied both Theatre and International Relations
Unsurprisingly, the Duchess of Sussex was interested in acting from a young age, and she studied Theatre at her alma mater, Northwestern University, in Illinois. But as Meghan also wanted to pursue a career in politics, she decided to double-major in both Theatre and International Relations.
She thought she’d have a career in politics
After graduating, Meghan thought she would have a career that saw her travelling the world and working towards positive change - something that ended up being true. “I applied for an internship at the U.S. Embassy, so I ended up working in the [U.S.] embassy in Buenos Aires for a few months”, she told Marie Claire. “I thought for sure I would still have a career in politics.”
She used her voice at a young age
Meghan is well-known for her feminist politics and passion for empowering women. Turns out, this was always something she considered: when she was 11, Meghan was completing a homework assignment about adverts and noticed a popular ad for washing up liquid solely directed towards women. Her dad encouraged her to write to change-makers and politicians, and the company changed the slogan to a more gender-neutral one within a few days.
She had a side hustle in calligraphy
While supporting herself as she auditioned for plenty of roles before her big acting break, Meghan Markle had plenty of other interesting jobs. One of these included calligraphy, where she ended up writing wedding invitations for singer Robin Thicke and correspondences for fashion house Dolce & Gabbana.
She always loved animals
Plenty of members of the royal family are known for their affection towards animals, and it turned out that in this way, Meghan fit right in. She's donated to plenty of animal welfare programs, and she also adopted two rescue dogs.
Her mum is a yoga teacher, and she loves the practice
Meghan is very close to her mother, Doria Ragland, who is a yoga instructor. As Doria was always practising yoga in the house, Meghan started doing the same at a very young age, practising with her mum when she was seven years old.
She was married once before
Before she joined the royal family through her fairytale wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan had actually been married and divorced already. Her first husband was producer Trevor Engelson, who has produced plenty of Hollywood films such as the Robert Pattinson-starring Remember Me. They divorced in 2013.
She was once on a game show
Becoming an actress isn’t always an easy route, and Meghan did some ‘fluffier’ roles before she broke into the industry. One of these was as a ‘briefcase girl’ for the popular game show Deal or no Deal, an experience she later recalled hating.
She was in a sorority
Back in her university days, Meghan was part of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. Founded in 1870, the sorority focused on sisterhood and friendship.
She did lots of pilots before Suits
In a Marie Claire interview in 2013, the Duchess of Sussex confessed that she was in plenty of unfortunately unsuccessful pilots before she landed the one that would become her big break. "Before Suits, I did a pilot every single year. I even did a pilot for ABC with Patrick J. Adams, who plays Mike Ross on the show, like six years ago. So long! TV has always seen us in the same way. He's the rough-around-the-edges guy, I'm the polished girl, and there's that, 'Will they ever be together?' tension. It's crazy to finally have a pilot that has more than the longevity of one season—this is like my cup runneth over."
She used to teach bookbinding
Along with working as a freelance calligrapher and various other odd jobs, Meghan also had a fairly unique side hustle, which was teaching the art of bookbinding. We’re not sure where she learned this particular skill, but it definitely sounds fun.
She lived in Canada
In 2020, Meghan and Harry famously stepped down as senior royals and briefly lived in Canada, before settling down in Meghan’s home state of California. But back when she was filming Suits, the Duchess of Sussex used to spend around eight months a year living in Toronto, where the show was shot. As always, her natural charm landed her plenty of friends in high places, including the fashion adviser Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
She used to be a blogger
Before she was a Duchess, Meghan ran a fairly well-known lifestyle blog The Tig. The blog unsurprisingly featured recipes (Meghan is a big foodie), as well as celebrity interviews and travel and fashion content.
Her other jobs included designing clothes
The Tig, Meghan’s former blog, featured lifestyle and fashion content, and we know Markle loves to keep up with clothing trends. So it’s not so surprising that she was once a brand ambassador for Canadian clothing brand Reitmans, with whom she also created a collection in 2016.
She was always into charity work
Philanthropic work is a given for many members of British royalty. But even before she joined the monarchy, Meghan regularly endorsed volunteering efforts and charities. As well as working with nonprofits and organisations like One Young World and World Vision, the former royal also volunteered at soup kitchens in both LA and Toronto.
She’s been friends with Serena Williams for a long time
Meghan has plenty of famous friends, including superstar tennis player Serena Williams. But the pair have actually been close for years. They reportedly first met at the Super Bowl in 2010, and have stuck with each other through plenty of highs and lows, with their families also being close.
She met Harry through a mutual friend
Meghan and Harry first met when the actress was living in London, and by all accounts, they hit it off straight away. Harry’s friend Violet Von Westenholz had met Meghan while working in PR, and when Harry complained about his stagnant love life, Violet set him up with Meghan - and the rest is history.
Meghan and Harry travelled together after just two dates
The happy couple’s first date must have gone very well because it didn't take long before Harry and Meghan made travel plans together. In a later interview, Harry confessed: “We met once and twice back-to-back, two dates in London[...] then, it was three[,] maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to join me in Botswana, and we camped out with each other under the stars.”
She speaks more than one language
Meghan has always loved to travel, and when she was completing an internship with the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she became fluent in Spanish. This would have undoubtedly come in handy during her career as a senior royal, which involved plenty of travelling to other countries - it’s believed that she also speaks some French.
Her real name is Rachel
It may not seem that Meghan had much in common with her most famous character, Suits’ Rachel Zane (a paralegal), but they actually share a first name. Though she’s always been known as Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex was actually born Rachel Meghan Markle.
She’s a foodie, like her Suits character
A feature of her lifestyle blog The Tig was delicious, home-cooked meals, as well as the best places to eat out in London. Though she no longer posts this content, Meghan regularly professes her love for good food in interviews, as well as showcasing her cooking skills; two traits that she shares with her Suits character Rachel.
She wore her own jewellery in Suits
We know that Meghan has always had impeccable fashion, and as it turns out, the people styling her in Suits must have agreed. “All the jewellery that I wear on the show is my own personal jewellery and family heirlooms like my grandma's charm bracelet and my signet ring”, Markle told Marie Claire in 2013.
Her first role was on General Hospital
Though she’s credited on IMDB as a ‘student sitting on stage’ in Married with Children - which must have been due to her dad’s role amongst the crew on the show - her first speaking part on the small screen was on an episode of General Hospital. Strangely enough, Meghan’s parents actually allegedly met on the set of the popular soap opera, with her dad being the lighting director and her mum filling in as an assistant makeup artist.
She was raised Protestant and went to a Catholic school
Meghan often refers to her faith in interviews and was actually raised being influenced by more than one religion. Though she was raised as a Protestant, she later attended the Immaculate Heart High School, a Catholic all-girls school in her hometown of Los Angeles.
She wrote a personal essay for Elle in 2015
Before she met Harry and became a household name, Meghan penned a very personal essay for the magazine Elle. Titled "I'm More Than An 'Other'", the actress and writer detailed her experience as a mixed-race woman in the public eye.
She was once in a music video
There are a few examples of now-very famous celebrities popping up in old music videos, but this is one we didn’t even know about. In Tori Amos’s 1999 music video for “1,000 Oceans”, you can spot a young Meghan in the crowd.
She is related to some famous people
While Meghan is one of the few American royals in the monarchy, it turns out she actually has some connections to the UK. According to MyHeritage.com, she shares DNA with some pretty famous Brits, from William Shakespeare to Winston Churchill.
She was a judge on a cooking show
Meghan has featured in a few fairly random TV shows, and she was actually a judge on an episode of Masterchef-style reality cooking show Chopped Junior. Landing the guest judge spot due to her Suits fame, Meghan looked stunning on the show and was supportive yet honest with the budding chefs.
She starred in lots of well-known rom-coms
The Duchess of Sussex’s first husband was the producer of several well-known rom-coms in the 00s and 10s, including Remember Me, which starred Meghan as a bartender in a small role. But this wasn’t the only popular comedy in which she cropped up - she can be seen in Get Him to the Greek and Horrible Bosses, as well as having a two-episode run on teen drama series 90210.
She is part-Irish
Meghan has written and spoken widely on her mixed-race heritage: her mother, Doria Ragland, is African-American, and her father is American, Irish and German (the family name was originally spelt as the distinctively German-sounding Merckel). Meghan and Harry made their first royal visit to Ireland in 2018 when they visited Dublin, and their two children reportedly qualify for Irish passports.
