15 Reveals From Andrew Morton's Meghan Markle Book
Biographer Andrew Morton is known for his books about royals, most famously his 1992 biography of Princess Diana. He's also written books about Wallis Simpson, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Madonna, and now he's turning his eye to Meghan Markle, the Suits actress who also happens to be the betrothed of Prince Harry. In his new book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, Morton recounts Meghan's childhood, her college years, and the years leading up to her fateful meeting with Prince Harry, occasionally sharing facts that might be new to even the most devout Meghan obsessive. Did you know, for example, that one of her relatives was a professional roller skater? Read on for some of the most surprising reveals from Morton's book.
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1. Her parents met on the set of General Hospital. At the time, Tom Markle Sr. was working as the show's lighting director, and Doria Ragland was training as a makeup artist.
2. Her father had a very...creative way of stopping Meghan's older brother from smoking weed in the house. According to Morton, Tom Sr. got a little stricter with his older children after Meghan was born. Though he'd previously been fine with Tom Jr. smoking weed in the house, he changed his mind and arranged a prank where he pretended to eat the contents of Meghan's poopy diaper in order to gross out Tom Jr. and his friends. (It was chocolate pudding in a clean diaper.)
3. She staged a Gulf War protest at age 10. After a classmate expressed fears that his brother wouldn't come home from his tour of duty, Meghan led some of her other classmates in a protest on school grounds with anti-war banners and signs. It was filmed by the local TV station KTLA.
4. She once worked at a frozen yogurt shop called - wait for it - Humphrey Yogart. She was 13 and made $4 per hour working the counter and taking out the trash. While working there, she met Baywatch star Yasmine Bleeth, one of her earliest idols. Meghan shook her hand and told Yasmine that she loved her in her Soft N Dri commercial.
5. She appeared in Tori Amos's music video for "1000 Oceans." Morton writes that she made about $600 for two days of work on the clip.
6. She once auditioned for a Shakira music video but didn't get a callback. According to Morton, Meghan told a friend that she was dancing so hard she was afraid she was going to "fall out" of her top.
7. Her old car was so busted she had to enter and exit through the trunk. It's hard to make it in Hollywood, OK? It's also hard to fix electric problems in cars when you're broke, so instead of repairing the mechanism that would unlock the doors, Meghan started using her trunk as a door and pretended that she was looking for something if anybody ever caught her hanging around back there.
8. Donald Trump visited the set of Deal or No Deal while Meghan worked there. During an appearance promoting The Apprentice, Trump toured the set of the game show, and according to one woman who worked there, handed out his card and invited some of the briefcase girls to play golf at one of his courses. Morton writes that Meghan gave Trump a "wide berth" during his visit.
9. Her former blog once featured Ivanka Trump. Meghan closed her lifestyle blog in April 2017, but before that happened (and before Donald Trump was running for president), one of the Tig's bigger gets was Ivanka Trump. Morton calls Ivanka one of Meghan's "feminine idols."
10. She inspired a character in the book What Pretty Girls Are Made Of. Meghan's BFF Lindsay Jill Roth used Meghan as inspiration for a character named Alison Kraft in her 2015 novel. According to Morton, Lindsay sent a copy of the book to Kate Middleton with a note saying that the duchess was "the definition of 'prettiness.'"
11. She borrowed a sweater from Anna Wintour. When it started to rain at a tennis match she was attending at Wimbledon in 2016, Meghan had a sudden need to cover up her black suede dress until the roof was in place. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour obliged her and let her borrow a cardigan to protect her dress till their seats were covered.
12. While attending a wedding reception, Prince Harry knocked over a full tray of drinks because he was moonwalking too enthusiastically. It happened while "Billie Jean" was playing. Classic Harry.
13. Meghan practiced for English tea service at the Pasadena restaurant Rose Tree Cottage. Morton reports that Meghan attended afternoon tea service at the English-themed restaurant, perhaps in anticipation of her eventual tea with the queen.
14. Prince Harry made a custom Suits video for his grandparents. Before Meghan attended Christmas at Sandringham, Harry showed Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip an "edited YouTube version" of Meghan on Suits so that his formidable grandparents would understand why he liked her so much. Apparently it worked, because they let her come to the traditionally spouses-only event.
15. She gave Queen Elizabeth II a singing hamster for Christmas. The royal adults traditionally give each other jokey presents at the holidays, so for Meghan's first Christmas with family, she presented its matriarch with a singing hamster. (Prince Harry, for his part, once gave his grandmother a Big Mouth Billy Bass.)
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