Duchess Meghan: An former actress is 44 years old

Duchess Meghan (44) celebrates her birthday on August 4th. The former actress became known with the series “Suits” before becoming the Duchess of Sussex alongside Prince Harry (40). The withdrawal from the British royal family, their new life in California and their own projects such as a lifestyle brand today shape their everyday life – between public attention and the desire for independence.

Duchess Meghan was born on August 4, 1981 as Rachel Meghan Markle in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Thomas Wayne Markle (81), a light director, and Doria Loyce Ragland (68), a social worker, divorced seven years after her birth. From her father’s first marriage, Meghan has two half siblings who are about 15 years older than her.

She came into contact with acting early: Between her second and eleventh year of life, Meghan Markle visited the Hollywood Schoolhouse, a popular private school in Los Angeles. After graduating from the Immaculate Heart High School, a private Catholic girls’ school, she studied theater studies and international relationships at Northwestern University in the US state of Illinois.

During her first year she completed an internship as a junior press spokeswoman at the US message in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Back in Los Angeles, she signed with an artist agency. The entry into the acting business, however, was difficult: Meghan later reported that it was “not black enough for the black rolling and not white enough for the whites”.

From 2002, Duchess Meghan was seen in smaller supporting roles and guest appearances in various television productions such as “General Hospital”, “CSI: NY” or “Knight Rider”. However, she only celebrated her international breakthrough almost a decade later with the “Suits” lawyer’s series produced in Toronto, in which she delighted a wide audience as a lawyer assistant Rachel Zane.

In 2011 not only marked the beginning of her “Suits” career, but also a new phase of life: Meghan married the actor and producer Trevor Engelson (48), with whom she had been lined up since 2004. The marriage was divorced again two years later. In 2016 she met her today’s husband Prince Harry. Finally, she should end her acting career for a life with him.

The American and the British prince got to know each other through social media. “Meghan and I met through Instagram,” said Harry in the joint Netflix documentary “Harry & Meghan”. “I scroll through my feed and one of my contacts had posted this video with her, it was a snapchat[filter]… with donkey ears and – that was the first thing I saw. I thought: ‘Who is that?’ “Meghan, on the other hand, went to Harry’s Instagram profile after a joint contact reported to her.

In the beginning, Meghan and Harry kept their love secret. “When I met M., I was afraid that the media would scare them off – the same media that had already scared so many other people from me,” said Harry. “I knew that it could only work if we kept it secret for as long as possible.” In November 2016, they finally made their relationship public – also because British media wanted to advance them. According to the couple, there were initially reservations within the royal family, especially because of Meghan’s acting career.

Meghan and Harry announced their engagement in November 2017. Harry presented his partner a specially made engagement ring. On May 19, 2018, they said yes in the chapel of Windsor Castle. Thousands of people gathered in the city to celebrate the royal couple. The ceremony was broadcast live worldwide. With the wedding, Meghan was officially admitted to the British royal family and received the title of Duchess of Sussex. In 2019 her first son Prince Archie (6) was born.

What started like a fairytale love story, however, resulted in a family feud that continues to this day. After their wedding, Harry and Meghan, together with his brother Prince William (43) and his wife Princess Kate (43), were the hope of the British monarchy – they were lovingly called “The Fabulous Four” by fans and media.

But just two years after their wedding ceremony, Harry and Meghan surprised with a serious decision: they announced to withdraw from their royal duties. “After many months of reflection and discussion, we decided to change this year and to find a new role within the royal institution.” As a “senior members” of the royal family, they want to step down, become financially independent and continue to support Queen Elizabeth (1926-2022).

The Queen also reacted: “Although we had preferred that they would remain full-time members of the royal family, respect and we understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family and at the same time remain an estimated part of my family.”

In early 2020, Harry and Meghan finally left Great Britain. The move – first to Canada, later in the Californian coastal town of Montecito – went down in history as “Megxit”. But the tensions also grew with the spatial distance. Reports on broken friendships and family conflicts-fueled by the well-known Oprah interview from 2021, were circulating again and again, the “Harry & Meghan” from 2022 and Harry’s autobiography “Spare”, which appeared in early 2023 and gave deep insight into the broken relationship with his family.

In the sensational interview with talk show legend Oprah Winfrey (71), in which Meghan was pregnant with her daughter Lilibet (4), she raised serious accusations against the British royal family. Despite her own suicide thoughts, she received no support from the palace, and racist remarks about the possible skin color of her son Archie fell. The interview marked a first turning point – since then the fronts have increasingly hardened between the Sussexes and the Royal Family. Harry has hardly any contact with his father King Charles or brother William. Meghan is rejected by many Royal fans and no longer travels to Great Britain.

In their new home Montecito, Harry and Meghan are now increasingly or less successful on their own projects. They founded the Archewell Foundation as early as 2020, and they also operate a media company. Together they produced their Netflix documentary “Harry & Meghan” and the Spotify “Archetypes”, which was discontinued in 2023 after only one season. Your current podcast “Confessions of A Female Founder” will also not get a second season for the time being.

In 2025, Meghan’s home series follows “with Love, Meghan”, in which she presents products of her own lifestyle brand. Her comeback on Instagram is also part of her new life away from the royals: there she now grants personal insights – even her children can be seen occasionally, but only from behind.