Despite being American-born, Grace Kelly and Meghan Markle both married foreign royals.
Princess Grace and Prince Rainier in 1959; Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in 2019.Victor Blackman/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 12, 1929. As per Biography, her father was a three-time Olympic gold medalist in rowing, and her mother was the first female athletics coach at the University of Pennsylvania.
Meghan Markle was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 4, 1981. Her mother, Doria Ragland, was a clinical therapist and yoga instructor, while her father, Thomas Markle, directed light and photography for television.
Before they became royals, Grace Kelly and Meghan Markle were both well-known actors.
Grace Kelly clutches her Oscar following her victory as “Best Actress” in 1954 at the 27th Academy Awards; Meghan Markle is starring in “Suits.”Bettmann/Getty Images; Christos Kalohoridis/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
Grace Kelly became one of the world’s most famous royals after experiencing tremendous success as an actress. Her first feature film, “Fourteen Hours,” she starred in at the tender age of 22. Her career took off after the release of “High Noon” in 1952, marking her major break.
She later starred in “Mogambo” alongside Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, and it was around this time that she developed a romantic relationship with Gable. Her depiction of Linda Nordley earned her a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress, and she was nominated for an Academy Award for the first time. She later won the 1954 Academy Award for best actress for “The Country Girl,” defeating Judy Garland in “A Star is Born.”
In 2002, during a brief appearance on “General Hospital,” Markle was given her first acknowledged TV acting credit as Nurse Jill. However, her most well-known role is that of Rachel Zane on “Suits.” Her episodes took place between 2011 and 2018.
Princess Grace met her husband, Prince Rainier, at a photo session; Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up on a blind date by a mutual acquaintance.
Accompanied by Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their public debut at the 2017 Invictus Games.Bettmann/Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Harper’s Bazaar reported that Grace Kelly was invited to join the US Delegation Committee at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. While attending the festival in France, she got to know Prince Rainier III of Monaco on the set of a photo session. A year later, they got married.
In July 2016, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up on a blind date at Soho House in New York City by a mutual acquaintance.
In 2017, Markle said in their first in-person interview with the BBC that she had no prior knowledge of the prince or the royal family before their date.
“Being from the States, you don’t grow up with the same understanding of the royal family,” she said. My only inquiry to [our common acquaintance] when she said she wanted to meet us was, “Well, is he nice?” since I didn’t know anything about him. Since it didn’t seem plausible that he would act cruelly.
Princess Grace and Meghan Markle both stopped performing after their engagements.
Grace Kelly’s wedding day in 1956; Meghan Markle’s wedding day in 2018.Mondadori/Getty Images; Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/Getty Images
After it was made public that Grace Kelly was engaged to Prince Rainier, she momentarily returned to acting in order to fulfill her contract with MGM. In her farewell film, “High Society,” Kelly even wore one of the two exquisite engagement rings that Prince Rainier had given her.
According to J. Randy Taraborrelli’s book “Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier,” which Insider previously reported, Kelly planned to continue her acting career following her marriage. Even yet, the prince went on to say that he and his spouse had decided she would give it up.
Despite Kelly’s non-retirement intention at the time of their engagement, The List said that it was “widely believed that Prince Rainier was the one who made his wife stop acting.”
The official announcement that Markle would be departing “Suits” after seven seasons was made on November 29, 2017, the day following the news of her engagement.
The statement from USA Network and Universal Cable Productions read, “We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on their engagement.”
“Working with Meghan has been enjoyable; she has been a part of our family for seven years.” We would want to thank Kate for her undying passion and dedication to “Suits” and wish her all the best.
The marriage of Rachel Zane’s character to Patrick J. Adams, who portrays her love interest, Mike Ross, centered the sitcom’s seven seasons.
However, it appears that Markle’s choice to leave Hollywood was not supported by the royal family; Prince Harry revealed to Oprah Winfrey that his family believed she should continue working to earn money.
However, Princess Grace did not have to forfeit the majority of her Hollywood money in order to pay her royal dowry, unlike Meghan Markle.
Grace Kelly, an American actress, married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956 in the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monte Carlo.Image Collection via Getty Images for LIFE
Prior to meeting Prince Rainier, Kelly had every intention of becoming one of the most successful actors in the world. But she was left with almost nothing when she was compelled to use her own money and family riches to pay a $2 million dowry, or around $20 million in today’s dollars.
When Princess Grace died at the age of fifty-two, her net worth was only $10,000, although she did own the deed to her grandfather’s small Irish house.
The marriage of Meghan Markle and Princess Grace was presented by the media as a picture-perfect, legendary coupling.
Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly announced their engagement in 1956, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did the same in 2017.Samir Hussein/Getty Images; Bettmann/Getty Images; Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images
The days leading up to Grace Kelly and Meghan Markle’s engagement and wedding piqued the public’s interest greatly. Both royal marriages were broadcast live for audiences all over the world and were nicknamed “modern fairy tales.”
Kelly and Rainier’s wedding was the first to be televised live.
While Prince Rainier was hunting for a bride to become the next in line for the Monegasque throne, Prince Harry came to the realization that he would most likely never become emperor.
Grace Kelly with Meghan Markle.Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images; Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Kelly said that she got married out of love.
Not what Prince Rainier represented or who he was—I married the man. “I fell in love with him without thinking about anything else,” Kelly once famously said.
Prince Harry, who was sixth in line for the throne, was not legally required to have an heir to the British kingdom at the time he married Meghan Markle. He is currently sixth in line, thus it is quite unlikely that he or his children, Lilibet and Archie, will ever inherit the kingdom.
After marrying into the royal family, Meghan Markle and Princess Grace both maintained their US citizenship.
Grace Kelly in New York City in 1982; Meghan Markle in 1983.Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images; Clive Mason/Getty Images
According to the Princess Grace Foundation, Grace Kelly became a dual citizen of the United States and Monaco when she wed Prince Rainier without having to renounce her American citizenship.
Meghan Markle maintained her American citizenship after she and Prince Harry moved to California, and she even participated in the 2020 presidential election.
Meghan Markle and Princess Grace experienced cultural shock after departing the United States.
Grace Kelly with Meghan Markle.Reg Birkett/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Even though Markle and Kelly’s lives as royalty were extremely different in London and Monaco, respectively, they both attempted to adjust to their new roles by getting involved in projects and causes they cared about.
“I never gave Hollywood any thought. “I found it unreal—unreal and full of men and women whose lives were confused and full of pain,” Kelly famously said.
Even though she was still a royal, she gave to groups that supported child welfare and started her own foundation to support local artists.
In a March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle acknowledged that she didn’t know anything when she got married, implying that she might have had a harder time acclimating to her new life as a royal and the expectations that went along with it. Last year, California native Prince Harry and his son Archie moved to Santa Barbara when Prince Harry left the royal family.
But she has also focused on causes that are important to her; she and Prince Harry established the Archewell Foundation, and she has supported charities in the UK in the past.
Meghan Markle faced bias and hatred in the media after her relationship with Prince Harry.
Newspapers run headlines about Meghan Markle.Yui Mok/PA Images/Getty Images
Despite negative headlines about Kelly appearing in the newspaper during her Hollywood career, Princess Grace was adored by the people of Monaco and the Monegasque media.
However, the British media started to unjustly attack and ridicule Meghan Markle very immediately after she became romantically involved with Prince Harry. There have been other lawsuits and legal battles as a result of the British press’s treatment of her and Prince Harry.
Furthermore, Meghan Markle disclosed the problems she had with the royal family, which led to her and Prince Harry quitting their royal jobs and moving to California.
