Both Grace Kelly and Meghan Markle married foreign royals while being American-born.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in 2019; Princess Grace and Prince Rainier in 1959.Chris Jackson/Getty Images; Victor Blackman/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
On November 12, 1929, Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was the first female sports coach at the University of Pennsylvania, and her father was a three-time Olympic gold champion in rowing, according to Biography.
August 4, 1981, was Meghan Markle’s birthdate in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Thomas Markle, was a light and photography director for television, and her mother, Doria Ragland, was a clinical therapist and yoga instructor.
Grace Kelly and Meghan Markle were well-known actors prior to becoming royal.
Meghan Markle playing in “Suits”; Grace Kelly holds her Oscar after winning “Best Actress” of 1954 at the 27th Academy Awards.Christos Kalohoridis/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images; Bettmann/Getty Images
Grace Kelly enjoyed great success as an actress before rising to prominence as one of the most well-known royals in the world. At the age of barely 22, she starred in her first movie, “Fourteen Hours.” With the release of “High Noon,” in 1952, she received her big break and saw her career soar.
She later starred with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner in “Mogambo,” and it was at this period that she was romantically associated with Gable. She received a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress and was a first-time Academy Award nominee for her portrayal of Linda Nordley. She later defeated Judy Garland in “A Star is Born” to win the 1954 Academy Award for best actress for “The Country Girl.”
In a brief stint in “General Hospital,” Markle received her first recognized TV acting credit in 2002 as Nurse Jill. She is most recognized, though, for playing Rachel Zane on “Suits.” Her episodes spanned from 2011 till 2018.
While Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were arranged on a blind date by a mutual acquaintance, Princess Grace met her husband, Prince Rainier, during a picture shoot.
At the 2017 Invictus Games, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went on their first public outing together, accompanied by Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly.Chris Jackson/Getty Images; Bettmann/Getty Images
Grace Kelly received an invitation to join the US Delegation Committee at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, according to Harper’s Bazaar. She met Prince Rainier III of Monaco on the set of a picture shoot while attending the festival in France. They tied the knot one year later.
A mutual acquaintance arranged for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to go on a blind date at Soho House in New York City in July 2016.
Markle admitted to the BBC in 2017 during their first in-person interview that she knew very nothing about the prince or the royal family prior to their date.
“You don’t grow up with the same understanding of the royal family because I’m from the States,” she remarked. Since I didn’t know anything about him, my sole question to [our common acquaintance] when she expressed her desire to introduce us was, ‘Well, is he nice?’ Because it didn’t seem reasonable that he would be unkind.
Following their engagements, Princess Grace and Meghan Markle both gave up performing.
Meghan Markle’s wedding day in 2018; Grace Kelly’s wedding day in 1956.Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/Getty Images; Mondadori/Getty Images
In order to fulfill her contract with MGM, Grace Kelly briefly resumed acting after it was revealed that she was engaged to Prince Rainier. Kelly even donned one of the two lavish engagement rings that Prince Rainier had given her in her farewell movie, “High Society.”
Kelly intended to pursue her acting career after her wedding, as J. Randy Taraborrelli stated in his book “Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier,” as Insider previously reported. The prince then stated, nevertheless, that he and his wife had decided she would give it up.
The List stated that although Kelly had no intention of retiring at the time of their engagement, it was “widely believed that Prince Rainier was the one who made his wife stop acting.”
It was formally announced on November 29, 2017, the day after the engagement news, that Markle would be leaving “Suits” after seven seasons.
“We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on their engagement from all of us at USA Network and Universal Cable Productions,” the network said in a statement.
“Meghan has been a part of our family for seven years, and working with her has been a pleasure.” We wish Kate all the best and would want to thank her for her unwavering love and dedication to “Suits.”
The seven seasons of the sitcom revolved around Rachel Zane’s character’s marriage to Patrick J. Adams, who plays her love interest, Mike Ross.
But it doesn’t seem like the royal family supported Markle’s decision to leave Hollywood—Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey that his family thought she should keep working to make money.
But unlike Meghan Markle, Princess Grace was not obliged to give up most of her Hollywood wealth in order to pay her royal dowry.
In 1956, American actress Grace Kelly wed Prince Rainier of Monaco at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Monte Carlo.Picture Collection for LIFE via Getty Images
Kelly had every intention of becoming one of the world’s most prosperous actresses until she met Prince Rainier. But when she was forced to use her own funds and family wealth to pay a $2 million dowry—roughly $20 million today—she was left with practically nothing.
Princess Grace had barely $10,000 in net worth when she passed away at the age of 52, but she did own the deed to her grandfather’s little Irish house.
The media portrayed Meghan Markle and Princess Grace’s nuptials as idyllic, mythical unions.
Following their announcement of engagement in 1956, Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly, and in 2017 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images; Bettmann/Getty Images
The public was extremely interested in Grace Kelly and Meghan Markle’s engagement and wedding days. Both royal marriages were dubbed “modern fairy tales” and were televised live for viewers worldwide.
The first royal wedding to be shown live was Kelly and Rainier’s.
Prince Harry realized he would probably never become emperor, while Prince Rainier was looking for a wife to become the next in line for the Monegasque throne.
Meghan Markle with Grace Kelly.Charles McQuillan/Getty Images; Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images
Kelly insisted that her reason for marriage was love.
“I married Prince Rainier, not what he stood for or who he was; I married the guy. Kelly famously remarked, “I fell in love with him without thinking about anything else.”
Upon marrying Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, who was fifth in line for the throne, was under no legal duty to bear an heir to the British crown. It is quite improbable that he or his children, Lilibet and Archie, will ever take the kingdom as he is currently sixth in line.
Both Meghan Markle and Princess Grace, who married into the royal family, kept their US citizenship.
Grace Kelly in 1982 in New York City; Meghan Markle the following year.Clive Mason/Getty Images; Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images
The Princess Grace Foundation claims that Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier without having to give up her American citizenship, becoming a dual citizen of the US and Monaco.
Following her and Prince Harry’s move to California, Meghan Markle kept her American citizenship and even cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.
After leaving the US, Meghan Markle and Princess Grace both suffered from cultural shock.
Meghan Markle with Grace Kelly.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images; Reg Birkett/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Both Markle and Kelly tried to acclimate to their new positions by immersing themselves in initiatives and causes they cared about, despite the fact that their lives as royalty were very different in London and Monaco, respectively.
“I never thought much of Hollywood. Kelly once remarked, “I found it unreal—unreal and full of men and women whose lives were confused and full of pain.”
She founded her own foundation to help regional artists and, although still a royal, donated to organizations that promoted child welfare.
Meghan Markle admitted she was ignorant when she entered the marriage in an interview with Oprah Winfrey from March 2021, suggesting that she may have had a harder difficulty adjusting to her royal life and the expectations that came with it. After withdrawing from the royal family, Prince Harry, a native of California, and their son Archie moved to Santa Barbara last year.
She has, however, also concentrated on issues close to her heart; she and Prince Harry founded the charity Archewell foundation and she previously acted as a patron of charities in the UK.
Following her connection with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle encountered prejudice and bigotry in the media.
Meghan Markle headlines in newspapers.Getty Images/PA Images/Yui Mok
Princess Grace was loved by the people of Monaco and the Monegasque media, despite unfavorable stories about Kelly in the papers during her Hollywood career.
But almost as soon as Meghan Markle was romantically connected to Prince Harry, the British media began to unfairly criticize and backlash against her. The way the British press treated her and Prince Harry led to numerous lawsuits and a series of court cases.
In addition, Meghan Markle opened up about the issues she had with the royal family, which caused her and Prince Harry to resign from their positions as royalty and relocate to California.
