Meghan Markle, the American actress famous for her role on the show "Suits", has recently gotten engaged to Prince Harry. Markle, originally from Los Angeles, will become the first person who identifies as biracial to join the United Kingdom’s Royal Family and the first American to marry into the family since Wallis Simpson famously wed King Edward VIII.
The couple is said to have met in early July of 2016 through a mutual friend in London. Ms. Markle reportedly stated during a BBC interview that she didn’t have a lot of predetermined notions about who Prince Harry was before they met. "Because I’m from the States, you don’t grow up with the same understanding of the Royal Family," she explained. "I didn’t know much about him, so the only thing that I had asked [our mutual friend] when she said that she wanted to set us up, was, 'Well is he nice?' Cause if he wasn't kind, it just didn’t seem like it would make sense." Needless to say, Prince Harry fit Markle’s liking.
At first, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship became public, they were met with an onslaught of negative media coverage. The U.K. Tabloids reported that Queen Elizabeth would not allow her grandson to marry Ms. Markle in accordance with the ancient rule banning commoners and divorcees from entering the Royal Family. But as Ms. Markle stated in her interview with Vanity Fair, she didn’t let the media get to her, saying: “I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it’s really simple…We’re two people who are really happy and in love.” Queen Elizabeth approved of their relationship, shocking many, and showing how the Royal Family is truly modernizing.
After spending time together in Africa, Norway, Canada, Jamaica, and England getting to know each other better, the couple is set to be married in May 2018. Contrary to popular belief, when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tie the knot, she will not adopt the title of 'princess' as one cannot become royal through marriage. Rather, she will have a title dependent on Prince Harry’s new hereditary status that he will be given by the monarch once married, which is most widely speculated to be the Duke of Sussex.
This would leave Meghan Markle to be titled as the Dutchess of Sussex. Interestingly, she would also be the first woman to receive this tile, as the only previous Duke of Sussex was married to two women who were both unapproved by his father, George III.
It is often said that Prince Harry, Princess Diana's younger son, is the royal favorite, and with his fiancés sense of relatability through her interviews and previous lifestyle website, The Tig, (which was "dedicated to the love of travel, food, fashion and beauty"), the couple is popular in the eyes of many. However, some Brits are still extremely wary about an American commoner entering the kingdom and remain upset about the modernization of the throne. Only time will tell how the public will continue to react to the union of these two individuals.
