Amid the tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, fans have resurfaced with a clip of Meghan from 1993, back when she was just 11 years old. Fans have taken the clip as telling when it comes to Meghan and her dedication to social causes.
The footage was a nostalgic representation of Meghan’s consistency when it comes to equality and women’s rights. From an acting career in childhood and adulthood to becoming the Duchess of Sussex and then stepping down, Meghan’s life has been full of ups and downs, but through it all, she still champions the causes that speak to her passion for equality.
Meghan was loved as an actress on television before she married Prince Harry and became a Duchess. With the TV series “Suits” being her big break, Meghan was able to make a bigger name for herself than with her previous minor roles. After marrying Prince Harry, Markle became a household name. During her time in Hollywood and in Buckingham Palace, Meghan has found ways to support initiatives she cares about, ranging from women’s rights to young diplomacy and global leadership. Meghan was even a UN ambassador for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women as well as an adamant supporter of World Vision’s Clean Water Campaign.
Although Meghan has been through a lot in the past few years, this clip reminds us that she likely has always has been — and likely always will be — dedicated to the causes that she’s passionate about, regardless of what challenges may stand in her way.
Be sure to reach the end of this article to see the full video 🙂
In just a matter of a few short years, Meghan has gone from successful actress to Duchess of Sussex. After her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018, what should have been a happy time for the couple turned into a time of media scrutiny. In a surprising and rare move, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced in 2020 that they would step back from their positions as senior members of the British Royal Family. Instead, the couple chose to live life on their own terms. The Oprah Winfrey interview was one of the biggest events since the couple stepped down from their royal duties and moved from the U.K. back to California in the United States. The interview aired on CBS on March 17, 2021. Naturally, the interview sparked the public eye, spurring fans to look through Meghan’s life as a royal and also through her career in the past.
Meghan had already achieved her own high status before even meeting Prince Harry. As an actress, Meghan had already made it big through her own hard work before ever laying eyes on Prince Harry. Still, the fame she experienced as an actress could not possibly prepare her for the notoriety she would achieve after marrying Prince Harry in 2018 and officially becoming the Duchess of Sussex. As all the world set eyes on the couple, it became apparent that the two were dating in 2016, according to Town & Country. However, love alone has not been enough to shield them from scrutiny, particularly after Prince Harry stepped down as a senior member of the Royal Family in 2020.
Meghan and Prince Harry were set up on a blind date in 2016, and the two were described as hitting it off instantly. Meghan likely knew she had finally met the love of her life given that things progressed so quickly. It was likely the same for Prince Harry, who revealed to Vogue, “I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. I was like, I’m really going to have to up my game here.”
Truly a whirlwind romance, Prince Harry would whisk Meghan off to Botswana just a few weeks later, according to Town & Country. The couple later described this trip as bringing them together and really starting their relationship. The country and their trip would become special to the couple over the years — so special that the center diamond of Meghan’s three-stone engagement ring would come from Botswana.
The trip was truly a time for the couple to connect without pressure or scrutiny. “We were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure we had a chance to get to know each other,” Prince Harry told Vogue.
In the same Vogue interview, Meghan recalls how she felt when Prince Harry proposed to her. She said,
“It was just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic; he got on one knee.”
Meghan and Prince Harry even made their wedding in 2018 more of a private affair. In their interview with Oprah Winfrey, the couple talked about how they exchanged vows privately three days before their wedding day. The BBC reported that Meghan said,
“We called the archbishop and we just said, ‘look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world but we want our union between us… just the two of us in our backyard.'”
Whether working in a position of influence or as an actress, Meghan has carried her ideals with her throughout her life. Her father recognized the drive in his daughter to change the way things worked. As someone with connections in the film industry, he even helped Meghan to write for various influential people, including Hillary Clinton. It would seem the noise the pair made worked, as their actions would lead to the soap company changing their motto to “People All Over America” from the controversial “Women All Over America,” according to Yahoo Life.
Still balancing her acting career with her education, Meghan notes the difficult process behind choosing to study communication at Northwestern University in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. Although Meghan knew her passions rested in acting, she did not like the idea of being a cliched girl from Los Angeles who wanted to be an actress. Of course, she would end up being anything but a cliche.
Without letting her passions fall by the wayside, Meghan would later move to Illinois and attend Northwestern in the city of Evanston. Choosing to double-major and study both international relations and theater at the prestigious school, it is likely Meghan would have no idea just how influential both degrees would be over the course of her lifetime. Still wrestling with her desire to make an impact as well as her passion for acting, Meghan decided to pursue politics next. Even when working as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, Meghan still held a spark for theater and the world of acting.
Choosing to compromise neither her studies nor her passions, Meghan continued going out for auditions while completing her schooling. This would eventually lead to a role of playing one of the briefcase girls on “Deal or No Deal.” Describing the experience to Esquire, she said, “I was the ill-fated number 26, which for some reason no one would ever choose. I would end up standing up there forever in these terribly uncomfortable and inexpensive five-inch heels just waiting for someone to pick my number so I could go and sit down.”
Meghan would continue landing small roles over the next few years, including film work such as “Remember Me” and “Get Him to the Greek.” She would also land a role on “General Hospital,” but it wasn’t until she landed her breakout role in the smash hit USA show “Suits” that everything would change for her. In an interview with Marie Claire, Meghan touched upon how exactly she made the switch from politics to acting:
“I had always been the theater nerd at Northwestern University. I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this cliché — a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress. I wanted more than that, and I had always loved politics, so I ended up changing my major completely, and double-majoring in theater and international relations … I thought for sure I would still have a career in politics.”
Meghan went on to outline exactly when the big break changed her trajectory:
“Then I came back to L.A. for Christmas, and a friend of mine from college introduced me to this manager. He saw a student film that I had done and said, ‘You know what, you’re going to make money, and I’ll take 10%, and I think you should stick around.’
However, paving her way in the acting world was not always easy for Meghan.
“I was really spoiled because I booked my first audition right away, so it’s the biggest tease because you think, ‘Oh, this is easy.’ All things considered … it was definitely a struggle.”
Meghan would continue to play the role of her character, Rachel Zane, on USA’s “Suits” all the way through 2018, the year she married Prince Harry. For Meghan, this was a second chance at love, following her previous marriage to producer Trevor Engelson. Meghan and Engelson married in 2010 and divorced in 2013. This would prove to be for the best, however, as just three years later, Meghan would meet Prince Harry. However, despite all of Meghan’s success, her childhood was very formative for her, likely shaping who she is today.
Born Aug. 4, 1981, Meghan’s childhood is one that most other residents of Los Angeles could only dream of. Her headstart in showbusiness can be partially attributed to the influence of her father, Thomas Markle, who was already an Emmy award-winning lighting director in his own right. There were even times when the two Markles worked together on set, making filming a real family business. However, just because Meghan was already working in showbusiness from a young age, this did not exempt her from focusing on her studies. Meghan attended an all-girls school in Los Angeles known as Immaculate Heart High School. Because Meghan’s father Thomas was already involved in showbiz, Meghan was exposed to her father’s work at a young age. Meghan described her childhood in an interview with Esquire, as she said,
“Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of ‘Married… with Children,’ which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up.”
With her schooling being a direct contrast to her time on set, Meghan also stated:
“There were a lot of times my dad would say, ‘Meg, why don’t you go and help with the craft services room over there? This is just a little off-color for your 11-year-old eyes.’”
Meghan’s exposure to her father’s work paid off. When she was 11, she was on a Nickelodeon program that aired back in 1993. The clip addressed sexist advertising after the students interviewed were given a social studies assignment to watch TV commercials and note any subliminal messaging. In the clip, young Meghan talked about how she noticed a dishwashing detergent ad was implying that women alone bear the responsibility of keeping a household clean.
A separate interview with People gave insight into her already-forming social consciousness at the time. She described watching a commercial for dish soap at the age of 11 and notes just how upset the commercial made her for targeting an exclusively female audience.
“I don’t think it’s right for kids to grow up thinking these things, that just mom does everything,” Meghan told the magazine.
At the UN Women’s “20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing” event in 2015, Meghan recalled the Nickelodean clip again, as she said:
“When I was just 11 years old, I unknowingly and somehow accidentally became a female advocate…Two boys from my class said, ‘Yeah, that’s where women belong, in the kitchen,’” she said. “I remember feeling shocked and angry and also just feeling so hurt — it just wasn’t right and something needed to be done.”
The resurfacing of the old clip proves Meghan’s consistency when it comes to gender equality. Even as a young girl, Meghan was attuned to gender roles, and it just goes to show how the activism she does today is nothing new to her character.
It’s great to see Meghan’s values have been consistent even since she was just 11 years old! Isn’t this clip of Meghan so nostalgic? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to pass this on to other Meghan fans you know!
