• Meghan Markle became the Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Harry.
• She was born in Los Angeles and was an actor before becoming a working royal.
• In 2025, Meghan is returning to the lifestyle space with a new show and business.

From starring on a TV show to marrying a literal prince charming, Meghan Markle's life sounds like the stuff of fairy tales.

However, royal life wasn't all it was cracked up to be for Meghan, 43. In January 2020, Meghan and Prince Harry, 40, stepped back as senior royals.

Five years later, the couple are raising their two children — who are sixth and seventh in line for the British throne — in California, building a non-royal life that still allows them to leverage their fame and global influence.

Here's everything to know about Meghan's life so far.

Meghan Markle's early life

Meghan was born Rachel Meghan Markle in Los Angeles on August 4, 1981, to Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland.

Thomas Markle and Ragland split when Meghan was just 2. In the Netflix series "Harry & Meghan," she said that she spent weekdays with her mother and weekends with her dad throughout her childhood.

Ragland worked as a social worker and yoga instructor, while Meghan's father was a lighting designer for shows like "Married… with Children." Meghan got her first experience with Hollywood by visiting sets with him.

Meghan has two half-siblings from Thomas' previous marriages, but she told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that she was raised as an "only child" and didn't have contact with her siblings from her Markle family.

She attended the Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse for elementary school and later Immaculate Heart High School before studying at Northwestern University, where she double majored in acting and international relations.

Meghan was an activist from a young age. When she was 11, she petitioned Procter & Gamble to change the tagline of a soap commercial with sexist undertones.

Meghan Markle's acting career

After graduating from Northwestern in 2003, Meghan was cast in a series of smaller roles, including an appearance on "General Hospital" and a stint as a briefcase girl on "Deal or No Deal."

Then, in 2011, she landed her breakout role as Rachel Zane on "Suits." She starred on the show from 2011 to 2018, moving to Toronto to film the series.

Meghan also launched her lifestyle blog, The Tig, in 2014. The blog featured everything from recipes and travel recommendations to interviews with fellow celebrities.

While her acting career flourished, Meghan dedicated much of her offscreen time to service work. She became a United Nations women's advocate and gave a speech at the UN Women's 2015 Conference, recounting her plea to Procter & Gamble to change its ad in her youth.

Meghan also became a World Vision ambassador in 2016, taking philanthropic trips to Rwanda and India through her partnership with the organization. The same year, she became a counselor for One Young World.

Falling for Prince Harry

Harry and Meghan met in 2016 after the prince saw Meghan in a video on a mutual friend's Instagram page, in which she was wearing the dog filter, as they shared in the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan."

After their pal told Meghan that Harry was interested in her, they connected via Instagram DMs. Harry and Meghan's first date took place in London in July 2016.

When they met, Harry was 32, and Meghan was 35. She was previously married to Trevor Engelson, a film producer, from 2011 to 2013, while Harry had never been married.

The couple also shared in their Netflix docuseries that their relationship escalated quickly, saying they went on a five-day safari in Botswana for their third date.

After reports of their relationship surfaced in October 2016, Harry publicly confirmed they were a couple in November, using the statement to condemn the "wave of abuse and harassment" Meghan experienced from the press and "social media trolls."

Harry proposed to Meghan in November 2017 in the north garden at Kensington Palace, and they announced their engagement on November 27. USA Today announced Meghan was leaving Suits the next day. A few months earlier, Meghan closed The Tig, preparing for her new royal life.

Harry and Meghan got married on May 19, 2018, at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, and she officially became the Duchess of Sussex. Millions of people watched the couple say "I do," and celebrities and royals flocked to the UK for the event.

However, Meghan's father caused tension in the lead-up to the nuptials. On May 14, 2018, less than a week before the wedding, tabloids, including TMZ and the Daily Mail, reported that Thomas posed for staged paparazzi photos in exchange for money. Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle, said on the British program "Loose Women" that the paparazzi photos were her idea.

When news of the staged photos was reported, Thomas told TMZ he wouldn't attend the wedding. He told the outlet he changed his mind on May 15 at 8 a.m., but he then said he wouldn't go to the event at 2 p.m. the same day because of an emergency heart surgery.

Meghan confirmed in a statement just two days before the wedding that her father would not attend. King Charles III walked her down the aisle.

Royal life — and a step back

Once Meghan and Harry were engaged, she became a working royal. As she took on duties, her fresh approach to royal fashion was often the topic of conversation, and she used her new platform as a duchess to promote feminism.

Harry and Meghan went on their first royal tour as a couple to Australia in October 2018, announcing they were expecting their first baby just before it started. They welcomed their son, Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, 2019, just shy of a year after their wedding.

Meghan later shared in an interview with Oprah Winfrey and in "Harry & Meghan" that she was struggling with her mental health throughout her pregnancy with Archie because of the intense media scrutiny she faced — particularly from the Royal Rota outlets, which have direct access to the royal family and that the couple said often featured reporting with racist undertones. Studies later found they were also the subject of coordinated hate campaigns on social media.

Meghan said the Firm didn't allow her to seek support for her mental health, even as she struggled with suicidal ideation.

"I just didn't want to be alive anymore," she told Winfrey in 2021. "That was a clear and real and frightening and constant thought."

The couple also told Winfrey that members of the royal family questioned how dark Archie's skin may be during Meghan's pregnancy, adding to their stress.

Meghan added that reports that she had made Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, cry ahead of her wedding were false. In fact, Meghan said Kate made her cry, though the princess later apologized.

In his 2023 memoir "Spare," Harry said there had been ongoing tension between the Sussexes and the Windsors when Meghan joined the royal family, largely stemming from different thoughts on how they should approach the press and King Charles and Queen Camilla's close relationship with certain outlets. Harry even said William physically attacked him during an argument in 2019.

Because of the tension, the couple said in "Harry & Meghan" that they proposed moving to other Commonwealth countries between 2018 and 2019, which they thought would allow them to continue serving as working royals, have some distance from the Royal Rota system, and put other members of the monarchy in the spotlight in the UK.

They proposed moving to New Zealand in 2018, South Africa in April 2019, and Canada in December 2019, but none of the moves panned out. Harry said he believed the Firm leaked the plans for the moves to South Africa and Canada to the press, which made it difficult to move forward with them.

Then, on January 8, 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back as senior royals and planned to "work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."

They made their final appearance as senior royals on March 9, 2020, and they returned to Canada after the event, where they had been staying since December 2019. Soon after, they relocated to California amid the coronavirus pandemic, staying in Tyler Perry's home before buying their own house in Montecito, California, in July 2020.

Post-royal life

Meghan and Harry were initially quiet in the months after they left the royal family, but they made a series of moves in the second half of 2020 that charted their path for the coming years.

They signed a production deal with Netflix, reportedly worth $100 million, in August 2020 and a separate $20 million podcast deal with Spotify in December 2020. In October 2020, they founded Archewell Inc., an umbrella organization for both a charitable organization and a production company.

They announced they were expecting their second child in February 2021, and in their now-famous interview with Winfrey in March 2021, they shared they were having a daughter. Princess Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on June 4, 2021. Her name honors both Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana.

Meghan also released her first children's book, "The Bench," in June 2021, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. Her podcast "Archetypes" was initially a hit when Meghan released it in August 2022, beating out Joe Rogan's podcast for the No. 1 spot on Spotify, though Harry and Meghan's relationship with Spotify ended in 2023.

"Harry & Meghan" was also a massive success when it premiered in December 2022, on the heels of Queen Elizabeth II's death in September. Harry and Meghan returned to the UK after her death, taking a walkabout with William and Kate at Windsor Castle to greet mourners and sitting with the royal family at her funeral.

Meghan also won a handful of lawsuits in the early years after her step back as a senior royal. In 2019, she sued the Mail on Sunday for misuse of her private information, copyright infringement, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 after it published a handwritten letter she wrote her father, and she won on all three counts in December 2021.

In December 2020, she and Harry separately settled a suit they filed against Splash UK that said the paparazzi agency would no longer take photos of the Sussex family. In March 2023, a judge dismissed a defamation case Samantha Markle filed against her half-sister.

After keeping a pretty low profile in 2023, Meghan and Harry went on a handful of quasi-royal tours in 2024, visiting Nigeria because the country is interested in hosting Harry's Invictus Games and promoting online safety in Colombia.

In early 2025, the couple seemed to be dividing and conquering professionally, with Harry focusing on service-oriented work while Meghan turned her attention to lifestyle-focused ventures.

Her new Netflix series, "With Love, Meghan," was set to premiere in January 2025, though she postponed its release several months following the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles. She and Harry were photographed supporting victims of the fire in its aftermath.

The show will feature Meghan sharing recipes, gardening and entertaining advice, and appearances from her famous friends. She returned to Instagram to announce the series on January 1 and used the account to reveal her new lifestyle brand, As Ever.

As Ever was originally branded American Riviera Orchard, but Meghan said she decided to change it to As Ever after Netflix signed on as her partner, as the new name would allow her to broaden the scope of the business.

Both the show and As Ever feel like a continuation of Meghan's lifestyle expertise, which she flexed with The Tig.