When Meghan Markle Marries Prince Harry, Her Life Will Change Forever As ‘Duchess Of Sussex’

The media has been speculating for months that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to marry. At last, the big news has finally broken. As reported by ABC News, Kensington Palace released a statement earlier today announcing that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry in the spring. The statement confirmed what royal watchers have suspected for weeks, Prince Harry and Meghan became engaged earlier this month, and that further details about the couple’s wedding plans will be announced in due course.

“His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince Harry to Ms. Meghan Markle. The wedding will take place in Spring 2018. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course.

“His Royal Highness and Ms. Markle became engaged in London earlier this month. Prince Harry has informed Her Majesty The Queen and other close members of his family. Prince Harry has also sought and received the blessing of Ms. Markle’s parents. The couple will live in Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace.”

That statement alone indicates that Meghan Markle’s life is about to undergo a massive transformation. Ms. Markle and Prince Harry will “live at Kensington Palace,” so Meghan will be uprooted from her family and her support network in the United States. Markle will doubtless have to give up her acting career because the life of a senior member of the British royal family leaves little time for anything else. As reported by Gert’s Royals, Prince Harry has had over 150 royal engagements this year alone.

With both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip seriously reducing the number of royal engagements they carry out, the burden on younger members of the royal family will increase. Ms. Markle will be expected to support the rest of the royals in fulfilling those duties.

The timing of the engagement announcement is interesting. As reported by CTV News, it comes just days after Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary. Prince Harry would not have wished to upstage his grandmother’s big event.

As reported by the Telegraph, Meghan Markle will probably be informally dubbed “Princess Meghan,” but that will not be her official title. It is likely that Queen Elizabeth will bestow the title “Duchess of Sussex” on Ms. Markle once she has married Prince Harry. It is customary for Queen Elizabeth to bestow a dukedom to members of the royal family after marriage. Prince William of Wales was given the title Duke of Cambridge when he married Kate Middleton, so it is likely that Prince Harry will become Duke of Sussex.

As many readers will be aware, Kate Middleton is pregnant with Prince William’s third child. The baby is due in April 2018, so Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding will probably not take place until after that baby is born. The birth will also push Prince Harry another step backward in the line of succession. He will then be sixth in line to the throne.

As a divorcee and an American, Ms. Markle would have proved something of a problem for the royal family had Prince Harry been first or second in line. There is, of course, a precedent for a member of the royal family marrying an American divorcee. King Edward VIII had to abdicate the throne when he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson in 1937. Prince Harry and Meghan face no such obstacle.

Once Ms. Markle marries into the British royal family, she will have to keep her personal opinions to herself for fear of breaching royal protocol. As reported by The Guardian, Markle recently closed down her blog, but she will soon be in a better position to advocate for gender equality, a subject close to heart in her role as a global ambassador for the United Nations.

Perhaps the biggest change for Meghan Markle will be coping with the increased media attention she will receive as a member of British royalty. As a television star, Markle may be accustomed to media attention, but she will need to be aware that that attention will increase dramatically. No one is more aware of the problems this can bring than Prince Harry. After all, his mother was hounded extensively by the paparazzi. He will be eager to protect Markle from that as much as he can.

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