The Duchess of Sussex has always been someone to brag about her status as a ‘straight A’ student.
In Meghan and Prince Harry‘s 2022 widely panned Netflix documentary, she claimed a large part of her personality was wrapped up in being ‘the smart one’.
After studying at the private Catholic all-girls high school Immaculate Heart in Los Angeles, she went on to study theatre and international studies at Northwestern University in Illinois.
It was there that her now-estranged father Thomas Markle asked his brother Mike to pull some strings in his government job to get his daughter a prestigious internship as a junior press officer at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Although she was late in applying, it was overlooked because of her good grades and Mike’s influence, according to writer Andrew Morton in his 2018 biography Meghan: A Hollywood Princess.
During her time in South America, Meghan became sufficiently committed to a career with the state department that she decided to take the Foreign Service Officer Test.
The three-hour exam is a mixture of politics, history, general knowledge and maths. But it proved too much for Meghan, who failed the exam – although she doesn’t mention that often.
The US State Department has published an official practice test online which it says would indicate a participant’s potential performance in the real exam with ‘good probability’. So could YOU pass it?
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The Duchess of Sussex with her now-estranged father Thomas Markle, who asked his brother Mike to pull some strings in his government job to get her the prestigious internship
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Meghan worked as a junior press officer at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina
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While working in Buenos Aires, above, Meghan became sufficiently committed to a career with the state department that she decided to take the Foreign Service Officer Test – but failed it
After failing the exam, Meghan flew to Madrid to take a six-week course in Spanish at the International Education for Students programme.
This added a string to her bow just in case she wanted to give the world of diplomacy another try later in life.
When Meghan returned to Northwestern University, she was able to brag to her friends with stories of tapas and tangos and tried to brush off her disappointment at missing the mark on her Foreign Service Officer Test.
But it seems failing the test left its mark on the young Meghan and she never again tried to get into the diplomatic service.
However, she had other career options and managed to get her first speaking acting role after her father Thomas pulled strings and put her forward for a ‘day player’ role with five lines in US soap opera General Hospital.
She would go on to become a Hollywood actress in legal drama Suits after starring in a number of smaller roles and as a briefcase model in game show Deal Or No Deal.
But despite her uncle Mike helping her get the highly sought after internship in the first place, it seems the pair never kept in touch.
He was not invited to the royal wedding, with Mike commenting in 2019: ‘Meghan has climbed socially and left us behind — that’s how I feel.
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It was former US diplomat Mike Markle, pictured, who first helped Meghan on her way to becoming a stateswoman – but she failed the exam
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Pictured above from left to right: (seated) Meghan’s uncle Frederick ‘Dismas’ Markle, uncle Mike Markle, Meghan, grandmother Doris Markle, (standing) cousin David Markle, cousin Nick Markle, cousin Traci Todd, cousin Trish Gallup, father Thomas Markle Sr and aunt Toni Markle
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Meghan is estranged from the majority of her father Thomas’s side of the family, including her dad (in blue) her other uncle Fred (checked shirt) and her half-siblings
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Meghan would go on to become a Hollywood actress in legal drama Suits after starring in a number of smaller roles and as a briefcase model in game show Deal Or No Deal
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Failing the test left its mark on Meghan and she never again tried to get into the diplomatic service.
‘I think that’s what happens when you’re “underclass” and trying to rise above the reality of your situation.
Do you think you would pass the test?
‘She didn’t invite a lot of people, so I don’t feel that bad, she didn’t discriminate against me.
‘It would have been nice for her to have some of her family, but I don’t understand her. I don’t communicate with her because I understand they don’t accept mail at the palace.
‘I don’t know what I’d say to her if I could write to her. It’s up to her to make the first move as far as I’m concerned.’
He added that he had helped her out at a time when others hadn’t.
‘I’ve probably done more for her than most,’ he said. ‘I personally talked to the ambassador in Argentina for her. I helped her out and I didn’t ask for anything in return.
‘It could be that she’s bossy towards staff because she’s been spoilt by my brother.
‘He doted on her a lot — more than he did his other children.
‘Tom spent more time with her and helped her in school and stuff like that.
‘If she wants to have a closer relationship that’s fine by me, it has to come from her. She is the one that has thrown up the boundaries, not me’.
