By Helen Witte
Staff Writer
On Nov. 27, Prince Harry announced his engagement to American actress Meghan Markle. Their wedding is planned for May 2018.
In the July 2015 issue of Elle Magazine, Markle spoke about her identity as a biracial actress; her mother is black and her father is white. She specifically brought to light the fact that many of the acting roles available are for a white person or a black person, not for a person who has a biracial identity.
She emphasizes that she does not want to fit into the black or white box, but rather, she wants to be able to adopt her biracial identity within the acting industry. Thus, she was very happy with her role in “Suits,” where the directors were looking for an actress who encompassed the characteristics of the role of Rachel Zane, who is not necessarily black or white. Now, Markle will be ending her acting career to start investing her all of her time into the life of a royal family member.
According to a BBC interview of the couple on Nov. 28, Prince Harry and Markle were introduced by a mutual friend in July 2016. They went on two dates and then Prince Harry invited Markle to come with him on a trip to Botswana, where they spent one week together.
After that, the couple participated in a long-distance relationship; Markle lived in Canada filming her show “Suits” and Prince Harry continued to live in London, visiting one another approximately every two weeks. According to “Town and Country Magazine,” their relationship was private for the first four months, but was then leaked on Oct. 31, 2016.
After this information was leaked, Markle started coming under attack by some news organizations and social media, something that she did not have to experience prior to being in a relationship with Prince Harry. In the BBC interview, Markle said, “I made the choice to not read anything, positive or negative. It just didn’t make sense and instead we focused all of our energies just on nurturing our relationship.” Prince Harry released a statement to the press, telling them to stop attacking her.
Over the course of 2017, they continued to see each other in Canada and England. According to “Town and Country Magazine,” they went on a second trip to Africa over the summer to celebrate Markle’s 36 birthday. In Oct., Markle stated in “Vanity Fair,” that “We’re in love…It’s part of what makes it so special, that’s just ours. But we’re really happy.”
As a result of this engagement, wedding plans are being made. The couple might get married in Westminster Abby, despite the fact that Markle is divorced. This is because of the General Synod Ruling of 2002, which reversed the law that any royal family member who had been divorced could not remarry in the Church of England. Another option being considered is a ceremony at Windsor Guildhall, which is where Prince Charles and Camilla were married.
This is the arguably most anticipated wedding of 2018.
