12 Things You Didn’t Know About Meghan Markle

Prince Harry’s future wife has a range of colourful interests.

While most know 36-year-old Meghan Markle from the hit television show Suits, there’s a lot more to Prince Harry’s future wife. The American beauty has a broad variety of interests and passions, from food and animals to gender equality and calligraphy. We’ve rounded up twelve things you may not know about Prince Harry’s bride-to-be.
Image: Meghan Markle Instagram
Meghan isn’t her first name: Markle’s full name is actually Rachel Meghan Markle, however the actress chose to use her middle name for her professional title.

She’s educated: Markle attended Northwestern University and completed a bachelors degree with a double major in theatre and international studies in 2003. She was part of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority while studying.
Image: Meghan Markle Instagram
She speaks fluent Spanish: after graduating Markle worked at the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires, where she learnt – and perfected – Argentinian Spanish.

She’s a big foodie: On her lifestyle blog The Tig (since removed), Markle frequently shared recipes and discussed her passion for food. The actress said her go-to breakfast is “a Clean Cleanse vanilla shake blended with frozen Ontario blueberries”, and for lunch it’s “a Niçoise salad and glass of rosé, with some Grey Owl goat cheese and baguette on the side.” Her dream dinner consists of “A leisurely [meal] of seafood and pasta, and a negroni to cap off the night.”
Image: Meghan Markle Instagram
This is her second marriage: Markle and film producer Trevor Engelson wed in 2011 in Jamaica, divorcing two years later.

She’s a talented calligraphist: the dark-haired beauty is skilled in the art of handwriting, even working as a professional calligrapher for a time. “I used to be a calligrapher for weddings and events — that was my side job while I was auditioning,” she told Good Housekeeping. The star’s clients included fashion powerhouse Dolce & Gabbana.

She’s been advocating women’s rights for decades: when she was 11, Markle wrote to the Hillary Clinton, the First Lady at the time, complaining about an advertisement for soap that suggested women’s place was in the kitchen. The manufacturer changed the advertisement as a result of Markle’s complaint.
Image: Meghan Markle Instagram
Cocktails are her favourite drink: Markle wrote on The Tig that “a spicy tequila cocktail, Negroni, or good scotch (neat)” were her drinks of choice. However, she also admitted her taste for wine. “God, do I love wine.”

She loves dogs: While living in Toronto Markle had two dogs, a Labrador-shepherd cross named Bogart and a beagle named Guy. Bogart, whom Meghan sadly had to leave behind when moving to London, was a rescue dog that talk show host Ellen convinced her to adopt. “She’s like, ‘Rescue the dog!’” Markle told Best Health. “It’s sort of like if Oprah tells you to do something… And so I brought him home because Ellen told me to.”
Image: Meghan Markle Instagram
She’s passionate about philanthropy: Markle has spoken of her excitement about continuing philanthropic work once she is a member of the royal family. Previously she has travelled to India and Rwanda as the Global Ambassador for World Vision Canada, aiding campaigns supporting women’s education and clean water. She has also worked with the Empowerment of Women and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality.

Her favourite gift is flowers: a beautiful bouquet is the way to Markle’s heart, especially her favourite kind – peonies. The actress posted several photos of herself with beautiful bouquets while she was active on Instagram. One caption read “Swooning over these #spoiledrotten.”

She supports racial equality: in an essay in Elle magazine, Markle talked about her experience as a woman of mixed-race and how it has impacted her identity and her career. “I wasn’t black enough for the black roles and I wasn’t white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn’t book a job,” she wrote. “Just as black and white, when mixed, make grey, in many ways that’s what it did to my self-identity: it created a murky area of who I was, a haze around how people connected with me. I was grey.” The actress has publicly talked about the need for racial equality many times, a topic of great importance to her.
Image: Meghan Markle Instagram