. AMANDA REDMAN: Could this be the image that revitalises the royal family? It's the moment people first saw Prince Harry officially with his girlfriend Meghan Markle. A heavily choreographed public appearance which seemed to confirm that Meghan was about to become the most exciting new addition to the royal family's inner circle. COMMENTATOR: The world did appear to be watching. They are serious about one another. They've not only appeared in public together, Meghan's told the press that they're very much in love. And Harry's even said to have taken her to meet the Queen. It's an unusual royal romance. Fifth in line to the British throne falls in love with an American actress. A mixed-race divorcee. And it's a story that surprised everyone. So...did you hear your sister's dating Prince Harry? But then Harry has always done his own thing. So who is the showgirl who's met her handsome prince? We'll be speaking to Meghan Markle's friends... Meghan Markle is a smart girl. She knows what she wants and she gets it. If you're going to be a princess, I think that certain things have to be sacrificed. ..and, in a new interview, to her half-sister Samantha. The tabloids wanted to create this African-American, rags to riches, Cinderella story. Which is so far from reality. But just how unusual is this in the story of the royal family? Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee. And even a celebrity actress isn't that strange. Actors and actresses are just like kings and queens. They're performers. How will Meghan Markle find adjusting to the formality of the royals? You've got to understand about royal protocol and royal etiquette and the things that you do and you don't do. And what will this union do for the royal family and its image in Britain and around the world? We are not used to having somebody with such prominence in the royal family who is of different heritage and ethnicity. Harry and Meghan: a very modern love story. How will they tie the knot with that most ancient of institutions, the British royal family? Able 2017 October 2016. The news breaks that Prince Harry is dating American actress Meghan Markle. TV NEWS: The actress Meghan Markle... TV: She's only been dating him for a few months. They've still never been seen together in public. One paper reported that Harry had told a friend Meghan Markle was his ideal woman. He'd apparently seen her in the hit legal drama Suits. People who weren't familiar with that TV show didn't know who she was. It's not like she was a big Hollywood celebrity or a big California actress. She was not on a lot of people's radars before that news broke that she and Harry were seeing each other. Meghan Markle wasn't a big celebrity prior to dating Prince Harry, was probably, say, B-list. That sounds negative to say, but she was known; she was well liked; she wouldn't have had any trouble getting a table in a restaurant. She wasn't, like, a household name by any means. Oh, yay! Thank you for watching! So how has Meghan Markle ended up on the verge of joining the royal family? Los Angeles, 1981. Meghan Markle was born three years before Prince Harry to a typically unconventional Californian family. Her father Thomas was a television lighting director. And her mother Doria, a therapist and yoga instructor. Her father already had two children from his previous marriage, Meghan's half-brother Thomas Junior and half-sister Samantha. My father married her mother. So she is my blood half-sister. It was like a gift when Meghan was born because she was so full of life and personality that we became settled as a family, but we became much more lively. Being an older sister suddenly made me feel like I had a responsibility. Being able to make her laugh or help her learn to walk. She was always giggling. Around the holidays, it was wonderful. Meghan's father was white and her mother African-American. Her family had come to Los Angeles from Georgia in Tennessee. We were sort of a little family, not as large as the Brady Bunch. But in our minds, it was a unique, very beautiful, multicultural and interracial family beginning. With regards to feeling a biracial tension or rift, I never really noticed that. TV NEWS: Out came Harry, not as a king, a shepherd or an angel, but a pixie. Prince Harry might have grown up in a world of Knightsbridge nannies and cosy kindergartens... ..but there was a real parallel with Meghan's early childhood. TV NEWS: The royal author Andrew Morton, who claims that Diana, seen here in Cardiff last night, refuses to initiate divorce proceedings against Prince Charles. They each saw their parents separate. But while Harry was entangled in his parents' messy and public separation, Meghan had a very different experience. I don't think Meghan ever really noticed that there were two households. I don't think she felt the separation. My father and Doria were very good about giving her stability. Everyone let her know that she was loved. Both Harry and Meghan went to private school. But while Harry boarded at Eton, where today fees run to �12,000 per term... TV NEWS: Its most famous pupils are of course Prince William and Prince Harry. ..Meghan went to a Catholic high school in Hollywood, paid for by her dad's successful career lighting sitcoms like Married With Children. Meghan's after-school activities included hanging out in TV studios on her way home. Every day after school for 10 years, that's where I grew up. I was there, which is a really odd place for a little girl to grow up, let me tell you. I remember, cos I would be at the tapings, and I'd be there all the time, and I went to an all-girls' Catholic school, so I'd be in a little school uniform. But then you'd watch Traci Lords or Tia Carrere walk by in a school uniform. My dad's like, 'No, Meg, that's not the same.' (LAUGHTER) But being around the TV industry clearly had an influence on Meghan Markle. When Meghan went to the sets with Dad, particularly Married With Children, she could envision herself there. She was able to sit there and absorb everything that was going on around her and really learn at an accelerated rate. I mean, talk about on-the-job training. Traditionally, British princes have married aristocrats or foreign princesses. More recently, Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, who was called a farmer's daughter by her own father. Kate Middleton was a middle-class home counties girl said to be descended from coalminers. With Meghan, an American divorcee actress, it seems like yet another social frontier has been crossed. Although royalty has always had a thing about actors. Virtually every 18th- and early 19th-century prince of Britain had at least an affair, and usually a marriage, with an actress. There's a natural affinity between monarchy and the stage. Monarchy is a performance. Actors and actresses are just like princes, princesses, kings, and queens. They're performers. They wear funny clothes. They enact roles that no ordinary human being would do. Meghan was drawn to the world of acting at an early age. We were a very animated household. So I think it was sort of nature and nurture. By the time she was six or seven, she was involved in a little acting studio in North Hollywood. She always seemed so excited to go. When she came out of class, she was always really excited, telling us about some of the things that she did. So we could tell Meghan, early on, was just a handful of characters busting to get out. Meghan didn't take the obvious route straight into the movies. Instead, she went to university. The first in her family. She studied theatre and international relations and worked for the US embassy in Argentina as part of her course. What the world and what the media didn't look at, and what they didn't know, was that she served as media liaison to foreign dignitaries, which is a very difficult position that requires a great deal of savvy and elegance. She's very, very classy, reserved, elegant, and educated. Meanwhile, Meghan's future boyfriend had joined the army after leaving school with two A levels. Nothing was happening for the first few days that I was here. But things are picking up now. Harry completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan, and trained to be a helicopter pilot. . While Harry was flying combat helicopters, Meghan Markle's acting career was taking off. In 2011, Meghan appeared in the TV movie Random Encounters. These photos were taken during the filming, by her co-star, Abby Wathen. I was the lead in the film, and she was playing my best friend, and we became almost instant friends. I think she always kinda knew that she would be successful. That's the kind of person that she is. She just knew it. Abby was with Meghan when she landed her first major role. Meghan and I were meeting for a glass of wine, and she told me that she booked this pilot that she had auditioned for, and it was really soon after Random Encounters, and it just... I was like, 'That is so crazy.' That pilot was for Suits, the series that would make Meghan Markle's name. But while her star was rising in Suits, behind the scenes, there were problems in Meghan Markle's private life. Meghan and I actually bonded because I was married and she was getting married. So, I was invited to her wedding, but I couldn't go. Um... Er... And then we both went through divorces. We actually bonded on that too. Meghan had married her partner of seven years in 2011 - film producer Trevor Engelson. But the marriage lasted only two years. Meghan... She's not one of these people that, like, dwells on... I was destroyed and Meghan was really... It was great to...feel empowered. I feel like she took her power back. So it wasn't right. It wasn't the marriage she needed to be in and...she moved on. Meghan did move on - to Toronto, where Suits is filmed. It would be another five years before Prince Harry came to stay with her here. But her laidback lifestyle is a world away from that of most royals. Meghan lives in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto. It's kind of studenty, it's a little bit funky. There's a lot of fun things there. She goes to yoga classes in Yorkville, which is a more posh neighbourhood in Toronto. Restaurants like Terroni, which is a very popular Italian restaurant. She loved living in Toronto because, unlike New York and LA, there wasn't really a chance that she was gonna be snapped by paparazzi. She was able to go out in the morning, just slap on a ball cap and walk her dogs and not have to worry about being photographed. In Toronto, Meghan started writing about her life. She created a blog, and called it 'The Tig' - named after her favourite Italian wine. It's got cooking and travel and fashion and beauty. Really just about you. It's an extension of the things that I love. People would ask me, 'Where should I go for a vacation?' 'What's the place, the hidden gem, for a perfect bite of food?' So I interview Michelin-starred chefs. One of those Michelin-starred chefs was Brit Tom Sellers. He became a friend of Meghan's after she visited his restaurant. This is his first television interview about her. She just called me one day and said 'I'm doing this blog. I'd love to include you. It's about art and culture and food.' I think it's rare sometimes to find someone that you actually feel is genuinely interested in what you're doing. She just loves food. On all levels, I think. It doesn't matter if you're in a fine-dining restaurant or eating out of a shack somewhere. Food brings people together. I think Meghan's just a real... An amazing people's person. Royal correspondent Roya Nikkhah remembers when Meghan Markle had to finally stop writing The Tig. The Tig was around for a couple of years before news of her relationship with Prince Harry broke. And she kept it going for several months after news of their relationship did emerge. I think there then came a time where the media were able to sort of pull put bits of her blog and make stories out of them, perhaps in a way that she wasn't that keen on. And she closed it down with a very heavy heart. But how did Meghan Markle, the actress, blogger, and yoga devotee, end up meeting Prince Harry? So...did you hear your sister's dating Prince Harry? The story begins in Soho, London, June 2016. Summer in the city. The stage is set for the showgirl Meghan Markle to meet her prince. They first met at Soho House in London through a mutual friend of theirs, Marcus Anderson, who works for Soho House Group and is an old friend of Meghan Markle's and also knows Harry. Soho House is a haven for the glitterati from high society and the worlds of media and entertainment. They run a chain of clubs and hotels in London and several major cities. Meghan is a member in London, Toronto, and LA. What's great about places like Soho House is that they are a members' club. If you are part of that establishment, it means you can't be seen to be taking photographs. There's lots of different rooms and alcoves where it's dark and you can hang out and nobody's going to bat an eyelid. PR guru Nick Ede got to know Meghan Markle when she hosted a glitzy charity event, the Global Gift Gala. She's very passionate about charity. She was coming over to London. We felt that it was a great opportunity for us to have someone like her, who's got great star appeal, and also is very eloquent, to host the event. It was really great to be able to talk to her about what we were doing and why we were doing it. Meghan is very committed to charity and humanitarian work. When she first met Harry, Meghan had just made a trip to Rwanda, campaigning for clean water with the charity World Vision. The year before, she had given a speech at a UN Women's Conference. I am honoured to be UN Women's Advocate for political participation and leadership. The similarity to his mother's charity work is said to have left a strong impression on Prince Harry. Ladies and gentlemen, everyone needs to be valued. After that first meeting in Soho House, the pair became a couple, but in total secrecy. I don't think anyone knew. They'd managed to keep their relationship quiet for a few months, which for a royal romance is extraordinary, particularly with someone high-profile like Meghan. Good morning. I can't believe we're talking about fall! I know! We have a faux fall set here! But three months later, the biggest royal scoop in a decade hit the headlines. It broke onto the news scene with quite a bang. We're here with Camilla. You broke the story! How accurate are your sources? Put it this way, Kensington Palace hasn't denied it. Since the story broke on Sunday morning, all of the evidence has pointed towards it being true. The media delved into Meghan Markle's childhood. Some of the newspapers sensationalised her background, painting a lurid picture of her family and the neighbourhood she'd grown up in. The tabloids wanted to create this ghetto princess story, if you will, which is so far from reality. The African-American, rags to riches, Cinderella. We were raised in a very beautiful, upper-middle-class home in the San Fernando valley of southern California. Nowhere near gangland, as the tabloids tried to illustrate. Contrary to media stories, Meghan was very classy. She was prim and proper even when she was a child. Can we get that over the shoulder, please? One fact that was inescapable was that Meghan was divorced. And the press leapt on it. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, given that the last time a royal prince fell in love with an American divorcee, it resulted in a constitutional crisis and the abdication of the throne. PATHE: To be placed in the position of having to choose between love and the throne is one of life's most tragic dilemmas. Even if the dilemma is of the King's own making. In the 1930s, the royal family was presented as THE model British family. It was presented as an exemplar of family virtue. That's sort of lasted through Prince Philip and the Queen. Nobody could possibly claim that the behaviour of their children makes them an example of family virtue. So insofar as the royal family is a symbol, it's not the symbol of British virtue. It's the symbol of the fact that our sex and private lives are a mess, but that we muddle along and are still quite nice. . While journalists dug up Meghan's grade-school acquaintances and one-time neighbours, the most caustic comments seemed to come from her half-sister Samantha. TV: This morning, there was a bombshell from Meghan's sister, who described the actress as a narcissistic social climber who always had a soft spot for gingers. Good gracious! I know! Comments which Samantha strongly insists she never made. I was quoted as calling her Princess Pushy. I never said those words. The truth is, I never said any such thing. There's no tape, no recording, nothing in the world that anybody could present to suggest that it was. The tabloids really milked that for all its worth. So it created a divide between Meghan and I. And... I... I think I was just... hurt. Meghan and Harry's relationship had become one of the most sought-after stories across the world. But frenzied press attention on a budding royal romance goes back at least a century. AMERICAN COMMENTATOR: Britain celebrates as April 26th 1923 sees the royal wedding of the Duke of York... In the early 1920s, the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was pursued relentlessly when she married then the Duke of York, who later became George VI. It's all relative to the time. You go back to Harry's father Prince Charles, there were young ladies who tried to fling their arms around him. There's a very famous one on a beach in Australia. A girl came out of the water, flung her arms around him and kissed him. Every time he had a young lady on his arm, it was assumed that he was going to marry her. We saw with William and Catherine, the press were pursuing them. The University of St Andrews was a no-no. But out of university, Catherine was pursued. Over the last 50 years, the royal family has become increasingly open with the press. PATHE: Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, arrived to open this industrial giant. Ma'am! Ma'am! Media fascination reached new heights when Charles and Diana's marriage began to fall apart in public. You hark back to 20 years ago, you're looking at the bad old days of Charles and Diana, where royal correspondents couldn't quite believe what they were getting. You had households briefing against each other. They were actually airing their dirty washing in public. William and Harry probably felt, quite rightly, although they were young, that 'Is this the right thing to do?' The young princes' early lessons in how or how not to handle the press made a lasting impact on them both. If things went catastrophically wrong in William's marriage, which I don't think it will, or Harry's, I doubt you would ever see them sitting down with a broadcaster, spilling their guts, in the way that their parents did. Prince Harry, with a long-standing reputation as a ladies' man, is well used to journalists following his love life. But his two most serious relationships before Meghan Markle, with Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas, both fizzled out. Both women were said to be unable to cope with the intense media intrusion. In 2014, shortly after Harry's split from Cressida, Kensington Palace invited in a select few photographers to discuss how to manage the press the next time Harry started a relationship. Veteran royal photographer Arthur Edwards was in attendance. They were asking the experienced people that had been around a while how they coped with Harry having a new girlfriend. How to handle it. My view was the first thing people want is the first picture of them together. And that's always going to be a big-money picture. But even after Harry and Meghan's relationship became public, Kensington Palace refused to release an officially sanctioned picture of the couple together. There's been a concerted effort on Harry's part and Meghan's part to protect that relationship as much as possible. I think they've tried to be quite low-key. You haven't seen them together, going out and about to celebrity parties. Even though that's part of her world, that's not what they've done together. If you're in control of it, then issue a picture! Just a picture of them together. That's the pressure off. That first picture is everything. While the world's press sought the first photo of the couple, Harry and Meghan tried to keep their relationship as private as possible, much the same as royal couples before them tried to maintain their privacy before their engagements were announced. But eventually, Harry and Meghan would need to come out in public and be seen together officially. The first step came on September 6th this year when Meghan appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. In the interview, she called Harry her boyfriend, and said they were really happy and in love. It was a very clear statement of intent, I think, about their relationship. And it was done 100% with Harry's approval. But the Vanity Fair article was just the prelude to the big public unveiling of the new royal romance. Four weeks later, Harry was opening the Invictus Games, the Paralympics-style sporting event he created. And this year, the Games were being hosted in Toronto, Meghan Markle's home city. TV: The Invictus Games has never been bigger. And the event now welcomes the wounded and the sick from 17 different nations. The Prince himself watched training in Toronto this afternoon before the opening ceremony tomorrow. Toronto was abuzz - not simply for the Games, but also because this might be the first time Prince Harry is seen out in public with his girlfriend, actress Meghan Markle. You knew she'd be there. She lives in Toronto. But it was a question of which event would she turn up to. It was a guessing game. Welcome to the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017. TV: Prince Harry was in the VIP seating, next to the First Lady of the United States. The woman closest to his heart was here too. The Prince's girlfriend Meghan Markle was spotted a few rows away. Close, but not close enough. The disappointment didn't last for long. TV: It was the public outing that every dedicated royal watcher has been waiting for. Two days later, the press got the big photo they all wanted. Harry and Meghan arrived together for a wheelchair tennis match, holding hands. It was what those in the know call a PDA - a public display of affection. Perfectly normal for most of us. But for a royal, a much bigger deal. They looked so comfortable together. Harry was holding Meghan's hand, which is just really not done in the royal family. Once inside the Invictus Games, they sat together this time. Rarely has there been so much attention for a wheelchair tennis match. During that time, they were talking, laughing, touching, just like a regular couple. It was everything people had been hoping it would be. TV: Does it confirm there's a royal wedding on the way? Of course not. But it does increase the speculation about one. I'll leave you with one final point. It's not my area of expertise, but the shirt she was wearing tonight, I am told by others, was a style called the husband shirt. And you can make of that what you will. We're talking about a very popular royal choosing to appear in public with his TV actress girlfriend. And that's a big deal. That's a sign of intent. That's them saying we're serious about one another. REPORTER: Prince William, why did it take you so long to propose? Most royal engagements have happened rather differently. TV: These occasions usually lack something in naturalness. In the past, they've been pretty stilted. The announcement was usually the first time the couple had been seen holding hands. It was still very formal and controlled. Very excited. He produced a ring? Yes. There and then. I did, yep. I'd been carrying it with me in my rucksack for about three weeks. Harry and Meghan seem to be living their courtship in a much more modern way. At the end of the Invictus Games, Harry was spotted in a private box with Meghan Markle and her mother Doria. TV: His relationship with Meghan Markle also appears to be growing. Last night, they signed off the closing ceremony with a kiss. We've now got another step, if you like, towards revealing Harry and his serious intent with Meghan Markle. A plan is being hatched now. A plan is... It's going to come our way, I think, in the next few weeks. But just how straightforward will it be for an outsider to enter the royal family? Traditionally, people would have had a clear idea of what a suitable match for Prince Harry would be. Preferably a duke's daughter, having grown up hunting, shooting and fishing. All of the very traditional, Sloaney values. Good at being outside a lot. Very robust. Quite hearty. Perhaps the perfect mixture of the aristocracy of Diana with the heartiness of Fergie. . Diana was born into an aristocratic family where the rules of royalty are ingrained. Diana went to finishing school. So she had a grounding of what to do, what not to do, what to say, what not to say, and how to behave. She knew what was expected of her when she joined the household because she'd had an in already in her formative years. And she adapted pretty well. I am extremely grateful to you, Lord Mayor, and to the city council, and to the city of Cardiff, for granting me the freedom of the city. With no such basic training to fall back on, just how steep will Meghan Markle's learning curve be? Grant Harrold was butler to Prince Charles, William, and Harry and now teaches royal etiquette at a castle in Gloucestershire. When I joined the royal household, it was a huge learning experience. You've got to understand about royal protocol and etiquette and the things that you do and you don't do. As well as the etiquette, there's also the permanent presence of cameras and smartphones to contend with. When royals get into helicopters or cars, it's the same thing about having to be careful how they do it. For gentlemen, it's quite straightforward. But for a lady, it's about keeping the knees together. You'll see them. They swing their legs out together, and then raise themself out of the chair. Getting in the car, it's the same thing. They sit in the chair and swing their legs in. It takes a bit of practice but it's very elegant and when beautifully done, you don't even notice. Meghan will also have to master the so-called duchess slant. Meghan, if she is going to be photographed a lot sitting on a stage, will possibly adopt, when wearing a skirt, the duchess slant - which is when you slightly angle your legs rather than crossing your legs at the knee. If you sat on a stage and had 100 photographers photographing you at knee level, and you're wearing a skirt, you will realise if you cross your legs at the knee, they can photograph straight up your skirt. No need for a duchess slant when you're wearing ripped jeans and a husband shirt. Meghan may well be used to walking the red carpet. But as a royal, her dress sense will be scrutinised like never before. The fashion choices of the royals have raised eyebrows over the years. It remains to be seen how daring will Meghan be with hers. But if she does become part of the royal family, at least she brings years of experience of living in the public eye. She's used to press attention. She's used to her life being turned inside out so the private becomes public. She's not like, dare I say it, the Duchess of Cambridge, who was torn from an ordinary, middle-class life and suddenly put in this goldfish bowl. She's used to that. I would guess that that might be part of the affinity between her and Harry. They could talk about it. They could say to each other, 'Oh God, what have the press been doing to you today?' Inside the royal palaces, there are also many pitfalls that Meghan will have to avoid when dining with her future in-laws. If you know what the acceptable fork to use is at a state banquet, and you know that everybody else is going to use that fork at that course, then it means you can relax and think about other things. Perhaps talk to the ambassador from Mexico about interesting things rather than be constantly thinking about 'Am I using the right fork?' The wonderful rule that I love is that when the Queen finishes, technically, that's when everybody's supposed to finish, because that's always when the plates will start getting cleared. The Queen, being a wonderful hostess, will make sure that, within reason, people round about her, she'll make sure they've finished, because she's aware that when she stops, that's the end of that course. There may be other tougher challenges ahead for Meghan Markle. I remember very clearly the first time I read about Meghan Markle and her relationship with Prince Harry. I kept reading these articles that were describing her in what I felt were very cryptic terms. 'She's not your usual society blonde.' 'She's not your average royal.' I was genuinely curious. What are they talking about? I then Googled her and I was like, 'Oh, she's black! That's what they're trying to say.' We are not used to having a senior royal, somebody with such prominence in the royal family, who is of different heritage and ethnicity. There's been some rather distasteful undertones in press commentary. The one thing I think that could never be ever said about the British royal family is that it is in any way racist. Go back to Victoria. Victoria had Indian favourites. She had the Munshi. Now, many of her family disapproved of the fact she adored him and the relationship was mutual. A handsome young Indian and an older woman. In... In theory, mistress/servant, but clearly almost mother/child. There were further controversial comments made by journalists and readers about Meghan affecting the royal bloodline. This goes to a much deeper issue about the royal family. In a way, the whole concept of the royal family is about racial purity. Even the terms that we use to talk about the royal family. Blue blood comes from sangre azul, which refers to the fact that the royal family were meant to have pale skin so that you could see their blue veins - which at the time distinguished them from the Jews and Moors and black Africans who were present in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. After the media onslaught, Prince Harry fought back. COMMENTATOR: Prince Harry lambasts the press for harassing his American girlfriend Meghan Markle. In the long and strongly-worded letter, Kensington Palace says his girlfriend Meghan Markle has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. It refers to the racial undertones of comment pieces... The statement says some reporting has crossed the line. I think it was very much Prince Harry. COMMENTATOR: He knows commentators will say this is the price she has to pay. You can hear his voice in it. You can hear his fury in it. Prince Harry's statement took many people by surprise. It was remarkable to hear the royal family accuse the press of racism. I have to say I really welcomed it because we can't overcome some of these prejudices unless we really own them and talk about them. And I think, being Britain, we have this really British tendency to sweep things under the carpet if they get awkward. Many people don't even feel comfortable using language about race and identity. So I think that's a really welcome step. Now these issues are starting to come out and we are starting to talk about them. . Harry's criticism of the tabloids' treatment of Meghan has led to a new respect in many people for the royal family. I have to say, I am someone who's never been very interested in the royals, personally. Now, Harry pursuing a relationship that, as we keep getting reminded, is not conventional, that makes me relate to them far more than I ever have before. Meghan, good morning. Good morning. (CHEERING) And there are a number of ways that Harry's relationship with Meghan Markle could help the monarchy feel more modern and in touch. Harry has got something of his mother's talent. for rubbing along with very different people. He can do matey... You're all young! ..without it seeming silly. I think that someone like Meghan, with the fact that she is self-made, self-created, but also operates easily in Hollywood, in Toronto, in New York, is an independent figure in society in her own right, they seem to me to be rather an evidently good match. Meghan Markle is also a good match for the younger generation of the royal family. Harry, William, and Kate, have all taken a fresher approach to charity, such as their recent campaign to dispel the stigma surrounding mental health. I think their Heads Together campaign that the three of them did, and raising awareness for mental health, was a really interesting departure and new direction for the new generation of the royal family. Really breaking taboos, speaking about their grief when their mother died. It just makes them feel more relevant, that they live in the same society that we do and come under some of the same pressures, but also have the same aspirations. It's time we ended the shame around mental health. The fear of judgement that stops people talking or getting help. And making it easier for people to get that help. And if the royals have focused on less fashionable causes, then so has Meghan Markle. In early 2017, she went to India, to highlight the stigma surrounding menstruation for poverty stricken women. And she has also been to Afghanistan and twice to Rwanda. I went to Rwanda with World Vision, working on building new wells and water sources. And for me, it's a really easy lineation. I look at it and go, 'Many young women ` and young boys, but specifically young women ` 'aren't able to go to school because they're spending hours a day walking to get water for their families.' So by fixing that one piece of the puzzle, you can see from a grassroots level, you're going, 'Now they can stay in school; they can get an education; 'they have a much larger promise for a brighter future.' Meghan's humanitarian works inevitably brought comparisons with Diana, who was renowned for her own charitable endeavours. My mother had been shocked and appalled by the impact that landmines were having on incredibly vulnerable people, and on children in particular. Harry is a very compassionate young man. I think he's also extremely sensitive. And his mother's work is a legacy which everybody knows about. Someone like Meghan is extremely attractive to him and to everybody in that sort of environment. Harry and Meghan are clearly linked by charity. And signals are getting stronger that they are about to form a royal unit to take on these causes together. In October 2017, Meghan reportedly made her first visit to Buckingham Palace. Meeting future in-laws is nerve-racking enough for most of us. But if they live here, it must be a whole different experience. Quinoa in LA to tea and scones in the palace, right? Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Meghan wouldn't be returning for the next series of Suits. Ultimately, I think that if you're going to be a princess, maybe certain things have to be sacrificed. You know, that will be for Meghan to decide, really. I think we are expecting an engagement announcement imminently. Everything is pointing towards that. The shutdown of her website and social media channels. And also, to see the way they are together, and her mother was there with her in the box for the Invictus Games, it just feels like it's the right time. So if engagement is around the corner, when might they get married? And what kind of wedding might they have? It's going to be very interesting to see what Meghan and Prince Harry choose to do. Historically, royal weddings were private affairs, usually at the small Chapel Royal at St James's Palace. Westminster Abbey became the venue of choice in the 1920s when the weddings became public spectacles. AMERICAN COMMENTATOR: Wedding guests wait to honour the royal couple outside Westminster Abbey. In recent times, Charles and Diana chose St Paul's ` the only time a royal wedding has been held there for 500 years. They're a different kind of couple. She is international in a way that no other royal bride has been. Heaven knows what their tastes will be. I'm not even sure what kind of group of people will assemble at the wedding. In that sense, it will be a one-off. You're talking about hundreds of guests. Lots of dignitaries, lots of international royals, heads of state. We've just seen Harry with his bromance with Barack Obama in Toronto at the Invictus Games. I'm pretty certain they'd get an invitation. You're also going to have the world of showbiz through Meghan's connection. And her family as well. But it remains to be seen if there will be an invite for Meghan's half-sister. I can't imagine how anyone would anticipate a normal, traditional royal wedding. They'd probably be watching across the lawn for the Markles to approach. (COD POSH ACCENT) Good God, they're coming! Close the curtains! Hide! It's just so silly. We're so normal. Yes, their wedding, I would love to go. But we have no idea what's going to happen. Whatever does happen, the arrival of Meghan Markle looks set to redefine the royal family as it will redefine her. When the Queen Mother married into the House of Windsor, she became the Duchess of York. As did Sarah Ferguson. And, of course, Diana became the Princess of Wales. But what might Meghan become? Like with William on his wedding, you would imagine that the Queen would grant Harry a dukedom. So she's very likely to become a duchess. It's an extraordinary new chapter in the story of the royal family. The little girl from California who grew up to marry the fifth in line to the British throne. But it moves the monarchy forward and edges the royals one step closer to the people. One in ten British couples are from different ethnic backgrounds. If we are to have a royal family that's meaningful and relevant, that new generations can relate to, it's hard to see how they can continue to look completely unlike the rest of society. We are a diverse country. I think this is simply a reflection of the world we are now in. The royal family has now become a global brand. This is the first globalised royal marriage. Able 2017