Rachel Meghan Markle (1981)

Rachel Meghan Markle (born August 4, 1981), is an American actress, model and humanitarian. Since 2011 Markle has portrayed Rachel Zane on the legal drama series Suits and is also known for her role as special agent Amy Jessup in the sci-fi thriller Fringe. She has been in a relationship with Prince Harry since June 2016.

Early life
Markle was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles. Of her parents she has said, "my dad is Caucasian and my mom is African-American ... I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman." Her mother, Doria Ragland, has a master's degree in social work from the University of Southern California and works as a psychotherapist and yoga instructor. Her father, of Dutch and Irish descent, is lighting director Thomas W. Markle, whose profession resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of Married … with Children.

Education
Markle grew up in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles where, from age five, she was educated at private schools; first at Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse and later at Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl, private  Catholic school in Los Angeles. She graduated in 2003 from Northwestern University, near Chicago, where she took theater studies before completing her bachelor's degree in theater and international studies; coursework included an internship at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires.

Acting
To support herself between early acting jobs, Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher and took on several contract acting and modeling jobs including a stint as a 'briefcase girl' on Deal or No Deal. In 2002, Markle appeared in an episode of the daytime soap opera, General Hospital. She appeared in Fox's series Fringe as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season. Since July 2011 she has played the paralegal Rachel Zane, on the USA Network show Suits. Markle has appeared in two 2010 films, Get Him to the Greek and Remember Me, and one 2011 film, Horrible Bosses. She appeared in the short film The Candidate (seen on the KQED public television show ImageMakers: the Company of Men) as a secretary in 2012. She has also appeared in episodes of Century City, Cuts, Love, Inc., The War at Home, 90210, Knight Rider, Without a Trace, The Apostles, CSI: NY, The League and Castle.

Other work
Markle was founder and editor-in-chief of lifestyle website The Tig. which closed in April 2017. In November 2016 Markle and Canadian clothing company Reitmans released a line of women's fashion workwear. In 2016, Markle became a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, traveling to Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign. She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate. Markle was a counsellor for international charity One Young World, speaking at the 2014 annual summit in Dublin on the topics of gender equality and modern-day slavery. She also attended the 2016 summit in Ottawa.

Personal life
Markle was in a relationship with actor and producer Trevor Engelson between 2004 and 2013, marrying on September 10, 2011 and divorcing in August 2013. Since June 2016, she has been in a relationship with Prince Harry.

On November 8, 2016, an official statement was released from the Royal Family's communications secretary addressing the "wave of abuse and harassment" directed toward Markle that followed the announcement of her relationship with Prince Harry. The statement spoke to the sexism, racism and defamatory stories directed at Markle and urged the press to "pause and reflect" before driving these storylines.

In September 2017, during an interview with Vanity Fair, Markle spoke in public for the first time about her love for Prince Harry saying, "We're two people who are really happy and in love. We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people's perception." Later that month, they made their first public appearances together at an official royal engagement - the wheelchair tennis event, and the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Toronto.

Markle is a self-proclaimed foodie, which was incorporated into her Suits character Rachel Zane. Markle is friends with a number of celebrities including Serena Williams, Jessica Mulroney, and Ben Mulroney.