Meghan Markle is the sexy, sassy former actress who had Prince Harry at 'hello'.

Clocking eyes on the pretty American for the first time on a blind date at London's exclusive Soho House in June 2016, Britain's most eligible bachelor immediately vowed to 'up his game'.

And by the time the date was over, both were smitten.

In Meghan 's own words, everyone "loves a great love story", which explains the royal wedding fever that gripped the UK and the US from the second their engagement was announced by Kensington Palace on November 27 2017 to their wedding.

But the decision to say yes to the dress, the ring and the titles was one that required a lot of sacrifice for the Los Angeles-born yoga junkie, who gave up her home, her career and even her dog - who was too old for the flight - to be with Harry.

Her casual style, natural warmth and experience of the spotlight have made her a natural fit for life under the royal lens, but behind the dazzling smile and the pearly whites, who is the real Meghan Markle?

(Image: PA)

What is Meghan Markle's net worth?

While Prince Harry is estimated to worth a staggering £30m, Meghan has made her own impressive fortune at £3.5m ($5m). Not to be sniffed at her empire is built up of numerous brand endorsements and her acting career - her most recent role being in Suits.

Her Suits salary - after 100 episodes and seven seasons - reportedly earned her £37,000 per episode, her annual salary being £333,000 when you add brand endorsements. She also starred in movies on the big screen. According to knownetworth.com , Meghan also took home £127,000 for short film The Candidate and £114,000 for independent movie, The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down .

She also ran her blog Tig, which led to brand endorsements in food, travel and fashion - it's said she earned £60,000 from sponsorships.

How old is Meghan Markle?

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Born in Los Angeles, California on August 4, 1981, to mum Doria Ragland and dad Thomas Markle Sr, at the time of her engagement and the royal wedding Meghan was 36.

There is a three-year age gap between Meghan and Harry, who was born on September 15, 1984, and they celebrated her 36th birthday by taking a three-week safari holiday to Botswana.

She's set to celebrate her 37th birthday at Harry's friend's wedding.

Like Harry, she was privately educated, attending the exclusive Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse alongside Scarlett Johansson, and later the all-girl Catholic Immaculate Heart High School.

Is Meghan Markle Canadian?

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One of the most Googled questions about Megs is whether or not she hails from the US' colder neighbour.

Much of the confusion was caused by the fact she lived in Toronto, Canada from 2011 to 2017 while starring in legal drama Suits.

Whilst there, she rented a cute two-storey house, which sold for £1.1million after she upped sticks and joined Harry at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace on a permanent basis in November 2017.

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While she brought her rescue dog Guy with her, her eldest hound Bogart - a Labrador-Shepherd mix - had to stay behind with friends because he was too old to make the journey.

Meanwhile, it was also in Toronto that she went public with Harry, appearing as his guest at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Game s last October.

How did Meghan and Harry meet?

(Image: Roland Leon/Daily Mirror)

The pair were set up by their mutual friend, fashion designer Misha Nonoo - who is one of the big names in the running for the maker of Meghan's wedding dress.

After hitting it off on their first date in London in July 2016, smooth-mover Harry invited her to join him in Botswana for five nights of camping under the stars just four weeks later.

"We were introduced, actually, by a mutual friend - we'll protect her privacy - but it was literally through her and we met once and then twice, back to back, two dates in London last July, beginning of July, and then it was about three, maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to join me in Botswana," Harry revealed in their TV interview, which aired hours after their royal engagement was confirmed.

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Though it wasn't really camping in the dig-a-hole-in-the-ground-to-do-your-business sense of the word.

Instead, the love birds stayed at the exclusive Meno a Kwena campsite, which overlooks the Boteti river and boasts real beds.

However, it's a move he's said to have pulled with many a lady previously.

British journalist and biographer Andrew Morton, who has written new book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, claims Harry previously took TV sports presenter Natalie Pinkham , Zimbabwean-born Chelsy Davy AND actress Cressida Bonas on safari.

(Image: Booking.com) (Image: Booking.com)

"After all, what is there not to love about a man who spends his holidays saving elephants and rhinos?" Morton writes.

Meghan was certainly impressed and later said: "I think that very early on when we realised we were going to commit to each other, we knew we had to invest the time and energy and whatever it took to make that happen."

Who is Meghan's brother Thomas Markle Jr?

While she remains close to her mum, the same can't be said for Meghan's half-brother Thomas Markle Jr, who has been slagging his little sis off something chronic to anyone who will listen.

In a scathing interview, Thomas - who was arrested for allegedly holding a gun to his girlfriend Darlene Blount’s head while drunk in January 2017 - lashed out after she failed to invite him to the wedding.

"Meg likes to portray herself as a humanitarian, a people’s person and a charitable person but she is none of those things to her family," he raged to the Daily Mirror.

"She is giving the greatest ­performance of her life. She is acting phoney. Once she got into Hollywood she turned into a different person. She’s clearly forgotten her roots and her family.

"Maybe the normal American family she has is embarrassing to her because we’re not producers and executive producers."

He even went so far as to compare her to a low-budget version of Princess Diana.

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"There’s a whole different side of her that has started to surface and it’s ugly to see," he continued.

"I’ve read that Meg wants to be like Diana. Diana was worshipped by everyone in the world. She was loved for the right reasons.

"That’s what Meg wants, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. She’s not genuine like Diana.”

He previously alleged that Meghan claimed not to know him when he begged her for help in handling the increased media interest in him.

Thomas was married to Tracy Dooley for 11 years and has two sons, Thomas and Tyler, with her.

None of them have been invited to the wedding.

(Image: James Breeden)

In an extraordinary open letter published in InTouch three weeks before the big day, Thomas Jr begged Harry to call off the wedding.

"As more time passes to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history," he warned.

"Meghan Markle is obviously not the right woman for you."

He went on to brand his sister a "jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the royal family heritage".

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Thomas then added: "Not to mention, to top it all off, she doesn’t invite her own family and instead invites complete strangers to the wedding. Who does that?

"You and the royal family should put an end to this fake fairytale wedding before it’s too late.

"Also you would think that a royal wedding would bring a torn family closer together, but I guess we are all distant family to Meg."

How many times has Meghan Markle been married?

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The beauty married her long-term boyfriend, film producer Trevor Engelson , in a show stopping beach ceremony in Jamaica in 2011.

The pair first got together in 2004 and in a stark contrast to the pomp and pageantry of the royal wedding, she spent most of their four-day wedding wearing a bikini.

But in 2013 it was all over, with Meghan reportedly ending their marriage 'out of the blue' by posting her wedding ring back to Trevor.

(Image: Patrick McMullan)

"Meghan landed her role in Suits just a few months before they married," an insider said, blaming her move to Toronto.

"And despite being together for six years before getting hitched, things started to fall apart not long after the wedding."

She was also linked to golfer Rory McIlroy in 2014 and is said to have dated Toronto chef Cort Vitiello for two years, ending it just before she met Harry.

And comedian Russell Brand announced just days before the royal wedding that he and Meghan had snogged - but can barely even remember it because he was high on drugs at the time.

The two had met on the set of 2010 comedy Get Him To The Greek, in which she had an uncredited bit part in one scene.

Russell said he'd "planted one on her" but was so out of it he didn't recall the reaction.

Meghan's engagement ring

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Meghan's rocking some serious bling on that finger, with Hazza having personally designed the stunning yellow gold three-stone ring himself.

The central stone comes from the afore-mentioned Botswana, while the other two are from his late mother's collection.

The ring was created by Cleave and Company, Court Jewellers and Medallists to Her Majesty The Queen.

Meghan's natural afro hair

The gorgeous star rocks a sleek brunette 'do like no other, but her hair is actually naturally curly.

"My mom is black and my dad is Dutch and Irish, so the texture of my hair is densely curly. I’ve been getting Brazilian blowouts for a couple of years," she said in 2011.



Meghan also revealed she is "really proud" of her heritage as she addressed making history as the first biracial royal.

Meghan Markle's charity work

Meghan, 35, is known for her humanitarian work. She became a global ambassador for World Vision Canada in 2016 and travelled to Rwanda in Africa to help a clean water project.

(Image: Getty Images)

Does Meghan Markle have childen?

No, but the smitten couple have made comments about starting a family as they sat side by side holding hands during their first interview together.

When asked by the BBC journalist if they were planning to have children, Harry replied with a smile: "Not currently, no."

Harry added: "No, of course, you know, I think one step at a time, and hopefully we'll start a family in the near future."

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What will Meghan Markle's title be?

Meghan's title all depends on that of Prince Harry after the nuptials take place - and there's another issue with her name.

If Harry remains a Prince after his wedding she will take on the feminine version of his title - as Kate Middleton did with his brother - and become Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales.

But if Harry, like William, is made a Duke after his wedding - which will likely be the case - Meghan will become a Duchess.

Royal experts believe Harry may take up the vacant role of Duke of Sussex, but there won't be a 'Meghan, Duchess of Sussex' - because Meghan isn't her real name.

Markle uses her middle name as a stage moniker and her actual first name is Rachel.