Meghan Markle: Who's the American divorced and feminist actress who's going to marry Prince Harry?

American, divorced and feminist. These are some of the characteristics of actress Meghan Markle, 36, who has just been engaged to Prince Harry, 33.

A spokesman for the royal family confirmed on Monday morning that the couple, who has been dating for a year, will marry in the spring of 2018 in the Northern Hemisphere (between March and June), on a date to be announced at "due time ".

The engagement took place in London in early November, but was only announced now. Only Queen Elizabeth and other close family members were told.

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In a statement, Prince Charles said he was "happy to announce" his son's engagement and that he had received the blessing of Meghan's parents.

Prince William and his wife, Duchess Kate Middleton, congratulated the couple: "It has been wonderful to meet Meghan and see how happy she and Harry are together."

As with Kate Middleton and Diana, Meghan will not officially win the title of princess, as she has no "royal blood."

The actress will be the first American to join the British royal family since Wallis Simpson, the socialite who married in 1937 to King Edward 8th, forcing him to abdicate the throne.

Meghan, who graduated from the University of Northwestern, Illinois, is in the cast of the American series Suits , now produced and screened by Netflix, which shows the routine at an important law firm in New York.

She also held for three years a lifestyle blog called The Tig, dedicated to women's issues, and engaged in gender equality campaigns. In one post she wrote, "I never wanted to be a woman who has lunch, I always wanted to be a woman who works."

The actress lives in Toronto, Canada, but was born and raised in Los Angeles in a neighborhood known as "the black Beverly Hills."

Daughter of director of photography Thomas Markle and social worker and instructor of yoga Doria Ragland, who has an African-American origin, the actress has already reported having suffered from racism several times.

When the courtship with Harry was announced, she was targeted by racist attacks on the internet. At the time, a spokesman for the royal family issued a statement saying that Harry was worried about her safety, in which he still criticized the press for "the wave of abuse and harassment."

In an article for American magazine Elle, Meghan said how proud she is of her origins.

"My mixed heritage on the one hand has already put me in a gray zone with respect to the way I identify myself, but on the other hand, having a foot on each side of this fence made me embrace it. from where I came. To express my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman. "

Meghan, who has also appeared in the Fringe and CSI series , was married in 2011 to movie producer Trevor Engelson, whom she had dated for seven years. The couple separated after two years of marriage.

The actress is also known in Canada for her philanthropic work. She is the ambassador of humanitarian aid NGO World Vision in the country.

Harry's now fiancee has also traveled to Rwanda, Africa, to help an organization trying to improve conditions for access to safe drinking water.

Harry and Meghan met in London in July 2016 through friends in common.

One of her best friends, the Canadian Markus Anderson, was the one who introduced them. He is director of the private club Soho House in London, which is frequented by the prince and the English elite.

It was not until October 2016 that their relationship was publicly revealed, according to a report in The Sunday Express.

In November of that year, Harry confirmed the affair by means of a statement.

They then spent Christmas together in London, where they were caught buying a Christmas tree, and then traveled to spend the New Year in Norway.

In March of this year, Meghan accompanied Harry to the wedding of a friend of his in Jamaica.

In August, the couple traveled for three weeks in Africa to celebrate her 36th birthday.

Meghan was the cover of the American magazine Vanity Fair in October. The headline: "Crazy about Harry".

In an interview with the publication, she revealed that the couple began dating six months before releasing the relationship.

"We are two really happy and passionate people," he said. The actress also claimed that their story was theirs, and that made it special. And said "love a great love story."

She also said that nothing has changed in her life or her personality because of dating.

"I remain the same person, I would never define myself on the basis of a relationship."

Connection with royalty

After smashing the family tree of the Meghan family, an Australian historian discovered that an ancestor of the actress's father had his beheading ordered by a relative of Harry, the British king Henry 8th.

The story was revealed by The Sunday Telegraph.

Meghan's relative, a wealthy landowner named Lord Hussey, initially knighted for his loyalty to the king, was later considered a traitor and had his decapitation ordered.

According to the same historian, an ancestor of the mother's family of the actress was enslaved.