Meghan Markle

Born Rachel Meghan Markle on August 4, 1981, she started life as an actress before meeting Prince Harry and eventually marrying him in 2018. That simple exchange of vows made her the Duchess of Sussex and gave her access to fame and fortune beyond her wildest dreams, but Markle would argue that she married for love and not money.

In fact, the two of them stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and decided to dedicate their time to humanitarian activities and raising their two children. She’s come a long way since her success in Suits and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. 

Here, I’m going to share a complete biography of Meghan Markle, covering everything from her acting career to her royal life and ending with her current activities, which include media work, philanthropic ventures and entrepreneurial projects.

Early Life, Education and Formative Years

Meghan Markle was born as Rachel Meghan Markle in Los Angeles, California, to parents Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle. Doria was African American and worked as a social worker and yoga instructor, while Thomas was a white lighting director. Mentioning their race is important here, because Markle’s identity as a biracial woman played an important role both in her early life and throughout her adulthood.

Her race also played a part in her activism background, which began at a suitably early age. Markle was just 11 years old when she wrote letters to prominent political figures of the time, including Hillary Clinton, whose husband Bill was running for president. The young activist was writing to protest a sexist TV advert, a campaign of letters that ultimately led to the commercial being changed.

Meanwhile, Markle’s parents were pushing her to pursue education, starting with her attendance at the all-girls Catholic Immaculate Heart High School. From there, she moved on to Northwestern University, where she earned a B.A. in theatre and international studies in 2003. After graduating, she worked a number of different jobs to support her acting career, including an internship at the US Embassy in Argentina and working for herself as a freelance calligrapher.

Acting Career and Success in Suits

Speaking of Markle’s acting, it’s time for us to take a closer look at her acting career. This started out in the early 2000s, when she picked up a number of smaller television appearances and guest roles. These included:

• Married… with Children (1995, uncredited)
• General Hospital (2001)
• CSI: New York (2006)
• 90210 (2008)
• Fringe (2009)
• CSI: Miami (2010)

But it was the role of Rachel Zane in Suits that made her name. The Meghan Markle Suits story is the kind of success story that most aspiring actresses can only dream of, with Markle starring as a paralegal for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018 on the popular USA Network show. 

Markle quickly became a fan favourite, and she was soon appearing in independent movies like 2013’s Random Encounters and 2015’s Anti-Social. However, she’s often spoken about the challenges she’s faced as a biracial actress when it comes to Hollywood casting, because she doesn’t necessarily fit the stereotypes. 

Outside of film, she’s also known for her lifestyle blog The Tig, where she wrote about travel, food and fashion. But both the blog and her role in Suits would eventually get left behind as she made the transition into life as a royal. 

How Prince Harry Changed Everything

Not everyone realises that Meghan Markle was previously married to film producer Trevor Engelson, although that only lasted from 2011 to 2013 and ended in divorce after the two of them drifted apart. That was good news for Prince Harry, who met Markle in July 2016 thanks to a blind date that was arranged by a mutual friend.

After romance continued to blossom during a camping trip in Botswana, the two of them made their relationship public in November 2016, and that was soon followed by Harry releasing a damning statement that condemned the racist and sexist press coverage that their relationship had generated.

On November 27, 2017, the couple announced their engagement, with Harry designing Meghan’s ring and incorporating a diamond from Botswana and two jewels that had belonged to Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.

Their royal wedding took place at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, turning Meghan into the Duchess of Sussex and making her the first American to marry into the British royal family since Wallis Simpson in 1936. That led to King Edward VIII renouncing the throne. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the media scrutiny intensified, as did the tabloid harassment. It was history repeating itself. 

Markle’s Duties as a Royal

After becoming the Duchess of Sussex, Markle was tasked with taking on a number of important royal duties and royal patronages. These included roles associated with the National Theatre, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Smart Works (a women’s employment charity) and Mayhew (an animal welfare charity). She also served as vice president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.

Markle’s first official engagement alongside Queen Elizabeth II was at the Commonwealth Day service in March 2018, with her Trooping the Colour debut in June of that year. Her personal Coat of Arms was unveiled in May 2018, while she spent that summer touring Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand with Prince Harry. She was praised by many for her relaxed and more modern style, but the British press refused to let up and she continued to face constant criticism.

Harry and Meghan’s Kids: Archie and Lilibet

Meghan Markle announced her first pregnancy in October 2018 during a royal tour of Australia, giving birth to her firstborn son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, 2019. Archie, who was seventh in line for the British throne when he was born, was christened in a private ceremony at Windsor Castle.

In November 2020, Markle penned an essay in which she revealed she’d experienced a miscarriage that July, although she was able to overcome that tragedy and to announce a second pregnancy on Valentine’s Day of 2021. Her daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on June 4, 2021 at California’s Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. As you can probably tell, her name is an homage to both Queen Elizabeth II (whose childhood nickname was Lilibet) and Princess Diana. 

The Harry and Meghan Markle kids have grown up largely out of the spotlight in California. They didn’t have royal titles at birth, but they became Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet after King Charles III took to the throne. Despite that, their parents have been super protective of their children, with few public photos available. 

For Archie and Lilibet, that can only be a good thing. They deserve to enjoy their childhood before being exposed to the inevitable public scrutiny that comes from having such famous parents.

Megxit: Harry and Meghan Leave the Royal Family

On January 8, 2020, just before the world went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Meghan and Harry announced that they’d be stepping back from their roles as senior royals. Termed Megxit by the press, this pivotal moment in their lives was all about seeking financial independence from the royal family and allowing them to more evenly split their time between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Harry and Meghan Take On Oprah and the Media

Let’s fast forward to March 7, 2021, when the Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey aired globally on CBS. The Oprah interview included a number of major revelations, such as accusations that a royal family member had expressed concerns about Archie’s skin colour. 

Markle also said that she’d been denied professional help when she’d expressed suicidal thoughts, and she disputed tabloid reports that she’d made Kate Middleton cry during a dress fitting for Princess Charlotte ahead of Meghan and Harry’s wedding. According to Meghan, it was the other way around and Kate made her cry.

All of this boiled down to the fact that she felt unprotected and abandoned by “the Firm” and that she and Harry had been left trapped. The interview divided opinions, with the palace’s official response saying that “recollections may vary”.

The year before the interview, Meghan and Harry signed a multi-year deal with Netflix under the umbrella banner of Harry & Meghan Productions. This led to a six-episode documentary series called Harry & Meghan, which was released in December 2022.

Meghan’s media ambitions didn’t end there, either. She also signed a deal with Spotify to release the Archetypes podcast, which aired from 2022 to 2023 and covered the stereotypes that hold women back, featuring interviews with guests like Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Mindy Kaling. Somehow, with all of this going on, she also found the time to support her husband when he released his memoir Spare in January 2023.

Recent Life and Activities

If you’re wondering about Meghan Markle today, you’re in luck. As 2025 turned into 2026, she was still living in her Montecito mansion with her husband Harry and two children. She was also keeping just as busy as she always is.

Together with Harry, Meghan has founded the Archewell Foundation, which you might also hear referred to as Archewell Philanthropies. Archewell is a non-profit that’s all about supporting Meghan’s favourite causes, generally centering around mental health, women’s rights and racial justice. At the same time, Meghan’s list of current projects also includes a bunch of business ventures, including a lifestyle brand As Ever, which specialises in home and wellness products.

As for public appearances, Meghan has been reasonably selective, mostly focussing on charity events and awards shows. Her relationship with the royal family remains strained, and while Meghan and Harry have limited contact with William and Kate, reports suggest that they’re reasonably close to King Charles.

In a recent interview with Emily Chang of Bloomberg, Meghan talked about the next chapter in her life, in which she plans to continue with her entrepreneurship while championing her social activism. In many ways, that brings her full circle, taking her right back to those letters she wrote as a young girl. Whether she’ll ever return to acting or not is unclear, though. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Public Perception and Legacy

To many people, she’s a modern-day Princess Diana, in that there are parallels between their marriages into the royal family and the way in which they’ve been treated by the media. Given what happened with Diana, perhaps it’s wise that she prioritises her privacy by staying away from social media.

Harry and Meghan’s Advocacy and Humanitarian Work

Ultimately, Meghan Markle’s long history of activism predates her royal life and has remained central to her public and private life since she was a teenager. Some of her main humanitarian projects include working with World Vision Canada as a Global Ambassador, partnering with One Young World and serving as a UN Women Advocate. With World Vision Canada, she visited Rwanda, while she delivered a passionate and widely praised speech on gender equality in her role as UN Women Advocate back in 2015.

Other key areas for her philanthropy and activism include education access and mental health, as well as a focus on menstrual equity which led to a well-received Time magazine essay in 2017. Her goal is to make period products more accessible to those who can’t afford them.

In 2021, Markle released a children’s book called The Bench, which is inspired by the father and son bond between Prince Harry and her son Archie. Since then, she’s also continued to work with the Archewell Foundation to support her favourite causes and to reduce the stigma around mental health conditions. One thing’s for sure when it comes to the future: whatever it brings, Meghan Markle will be busy!