Strange Facts About Meghan Markle

Since her relationship with Prince Harry became public back in 2016, Meghan Markle has become one of the most scrutinized celebrities in the world. For years, you'd be hard pressed to find a tabloid that didn't have at least one article about the actor-turned-duchess. While the press can often be a little too invasive when it comes to the royal family, it's no wonder that Meghan was such a popular subject. People were fascinated by how this American actor from Suits had won the heart of one of the world's most eligible bachelors. Of course, it was easy to see why Harry fell in love with Meghan — in addition to being absolutely stunning, she proved herself to be intelligent and empathetic, too.

In fact, the more we learn about Meghan, the more fascinated we are — especially when we find out things that seem a little ... well ... unusual. Interested in learning some new facts about the duchess that might surprise even the biggest fan? Here are some of the most bizarre Meghan Markle facts.

One of the most surprising facts about Meghan Markle is that Meghan isn't actually her real first name. According to The Sun, the duchess' birth name is actually Rachel Meghan Markle. Funnily enough, Rachel was also the name of her character on the show Suits. Apparently, the Queen had to use Meghan's full name when she officially blessed her marriage to Prince Harry.

As Harper's Bazaar pointed out, we still don't know much about why Meghan goes by her middle name. It may be that she prefers Meghan Markle as a stage name — after all, it does have a certain ring to it! It might also be the case that her parents have always called her by her middle name since she was young. In fact, Harry also goes by a slightly different name and has since birth — his real name is Henry! Regardless of why Meghan ditched her first name, we can't imagine ever calling her "Rachel!"

Before Meghan Markle was a duchess, she was a famous actor — but what you may not realize is that she had a few other interesting jobs before her acting career took off. One of these jobs was working as a professional calligrapher. That's right — she was a professional at fancy handwriting! Not a bad skill for a duchess if, we do say so ourselves.

As Meghan told Esquire in 2018, she picked up calligraphy when she was still in school. "It was because I went to an all-girls Catholic school for like six years during the time when kids actually had handwriting class," she explained. Apparently, cursive writing came to her naturally. So, instead of waiting tables in between acting jobs, she ended up working as a freelance calligrapher. She even revealed that she did the handwriting on Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's wedding invitations. Wow, sounds like Meghan had the makings of a lucrative career!

It turns out, one of Meghan Markle's earliest passions is yoga. As she explained to Best Health, "Yoga is my thing." The duchess revealed that she had been introduced to yoga through her mother, who is a yoga instructor. In fact, she even did "mommy-and-me" classes from the age of seven. She recalled that at first, she found it pretty hard, but her mom said, "Flower, you will find your practice — just give it time." By the time she was in college, she was hooked.

While working as an actor, Meghan got into a habit of doing several hot yoga classes a week with the instructor Duncan Parviainen. As she explained, "He is so positive and, especially in my industry, it's so important to surround yourself with people who are grounded and really optimistic." Sounds like some positive hot yoga sessions with Parviainen would have helped her get through the stress of joining the royal family, too.

Acting is a notoriously hard profession to break into. Most actors find themselves doing a few strange acting jobs before their big break. For Meghan Markle, it was no different. One of her first acting jobs was definitely a little odd, especially for a future duchess. She worked as one of the "briefcase girls" on Deal or No Deal. As Meghan explained to Esquire, "I would put that [job] into the category of things I was doing while I was auditioning to try to make ends meet." She went on to explain that she started the job right after working at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Talk about a change of pace!

Even though it was far from being her dream job, Meghan managed to find the bright side, explaining that it was a "learning experience." "It helped me to understand what I would rather be doing," she said diplomatically.

We all have our weird little obsessions — and the Duchess of Sussex is no different! As Meghan Markle revealed in a 2018 interview with Esquire, her odd obsession is her Vitamix blender. Apparently, on Canada Day weekend, Meghan brought her Vitamix blender with her on a vacation.

"Me and my Vitamix, we really sort of ran the show on feeding everybody for that weekend," Meghan recalled. She went on to explain that her treasured Vitamix pretty much comes with her everywhere she goes. Apparently, she once even shipped the blender with her car! In fact, she claimed that she used it every single day. As she put it," I cannot travel without my Vitamix. It's like a commercial at this point." Wow, sounds like Meghan really is obsessed! We wonder if she's had to give up traveling with her beloved Vitamix now that she's a member of the royal family.

We know that the Queen isn't opposed to a glass of fine German wine. In fact, there is apparently a gigantic cellar filled with quality wines under Buckingham Palace (via The Sun). It turns out, this area may have been one where the Queen and Meghan Markle had some things in common. As Meghan revealed in a 2012 article for TODAY, she absolutely loves wine.

"At the end of a long day, there is nothing I enjoy more than a glass of wine," Meghan wrote. She went on to explain that she didn't always care about which wine she was drinking, "so long as it's red." However, over the years, she developed a more sensitive palette. "I recently campervanned through New Zealand with my [then] husband, where we fell in love with so many off-the-beaten path wineries." She added, "The exploration of finding a great wine is part of the fun — only trumped by that first sip of a pour that is made with such care that you can't help but want to thank the winemaker personally." It sounds like Meghan really cares about wine.

It's no big surprise that the Duchess of Sussex has some impressive friends. But as it turns out, Meghan Markle's list of famous friends isn't exactly what you'd expect. For instance, the duchess is reportedly BFFs with tennis pro Serena Williams. As Meghan wrote in her blog in 2014, she and Williams met at DirecTV's Celebrity Beach Bowl. "We hit it off immediately," Meghan wrote, "taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girly stuff" (via E! News).

Later that year, Meghan supported her friend at the U.S. Open Championship. When Williams won the Grand Slam, Meghan reportedly posted an Instagram photo from the stands to congratulate her.

It's well known that the royals absolutely love their tennis. In fact, Meghan attended the Wimbledon Championships in 2019 to watch her friend compete (via The Sun).

It's hard to imagine Meghan Markle ever going through an awkward teen phase. With her perfectly sleek hair, glowing complexion, and impeccable style, the duchess is pretty much always pulled together and looking her best. But as she revealed to Esquire, she wasn't always quite so chic — especially in comparison to her dad's glamorous colleagues.

She explained, "My dad was a lighting director and director of photography for Married... with Children." Apparently, Meghan spent most evenings on set, "which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up."

As Meghan recalled, she didn't exactly fit in with the cast. "Just picture me with my curly hair and a gap in my teeth and my little school uniform with Keds on, looking up like, 'Hi,' at these very, uh, provocative women," she joked. Sounds like Meghan has certainly transformed since her Catholic school days.

No need to panic, but it turns out, Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry are actually related — very, very distantly. As the Daily Mail reported, the couple share an ancestor who lived during the 15th century. Apparently, the connection stems from Meghan's grandmother on her father's side. Doris Markle, Meghan's late grandmother, wasn't exactly living the life of a royal — in fact, she worked at a dollar store. Nevertheless, she did share an ancestor with the royals.

This ancestor was called Ralph Bowles. He had once been the High Sheriff of County Durham. One of his grandchildren's genealogical line leads to the Markle family, while another grandchild's line leads directly to the Queen Mother. Seems like Meghan had always come from royal blood. Not only that, on her paternal grandfather's side, she is also descended from German ancestors who had their own coat of arms.

It's pretty common for people to want to copy their favorite celebrities when it comes to their look — some people even go as far as to get plastic surgery (via Radar Online). It turns out, Meghan Markle has one specific feature that is incredibly popular. As E! News reported, plastic surgeons have claimed that Meghan has the most popular nose.

Dr. Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, explained in November of. 2017, "Patients started coming to see me about six months ago requesting Meghan Markle's nose." Apparently, her nose became more and more popular as her relationship with Prince Harry progressed. As Dr. Greenberg went on to explain, Meghan's nose has a "refined" appearance. "Let's face it," he said. "She's gorgeous but she also comes across like the girl next door." We have to admit, now that we think about it, Meghan does have an exceptionally good nose.

Even though Meghan Markle has given up acting since joining the royal family (via Harper's Bazaar), it's clear that she's always had the performing bug. In fact, a video surfaced of the duchess performing the song "Santa Baby" in her high school's Christmas show! Apparently, the performance took place in 1998 when Meghan was just 17. In the video, Meghan can be seen lip-syncing to the song alongside fellow pupil Natalie Fryman, who also went on to become a professional actress. The two girls wore simple all-black outfits with Santa hats for the performance.

As The Sun reported, the performance was a sign that Meghan was growing up into the woman she would become. One audience member reportedly said, "After being a bit of an awkward teen, by this point Meghan has blossomed into an attractive young woman and this shows that she was really relishing it." They added, "The performance went down really well."

Like many of us, Meghan Markle has a slightly embarrassing celebrity crush. Even though the duchess is happily married to Prince Harry, she wasn't ashamed to admit that she has a bit of a thing for actor Dennis Quaid. You probably remember him as the dad in The Parent Trap. Admittedly, he's not frequently considered one of Hollywood's biggest hunks. Nevertheless, it sounds like Meghan will never get over her crush.

As she said to Best Health in 2016, "You're going to laugh at who my male celebrity crush is but I'll never let it go. I love Dennis Quaid." She went on to explain that she also has a girl crush on Madeleine Albright, the politician. "She learned German on bed rest, how impressive is that!?" Meghan gushed. We have to admit, those are some unusual picks. We love how the duchess has her own unique crushes — and isn't ashamed to admit them!

In what some people may have seen as a controversial move, Meghan Markle actually redesigned her wedding ring. As Town & Country reported, Meghan was spotted in 2019, after the birth of her son Archie, with a brand new eternity band on her ring finger. Most people assumed the ring was a gift from Prince Harry to honor the birth of Archie or potentially their first wedding anniversary.

In addition to her new ring, Meghan was also sporting a redesigned engagement ring. By the looks of things, the ring was reset and the band was changed from a solid gold band to a band with tiny diamonds.

There's plenty of speculation about why the duchess changed her wedding ring band. Some thought it may be due to her fingers swelling during pregnancy. Others thought it may be an attempt to make her jewelry more cohesive. Luckily, Meghan didn't alter the ring too much — the three main diamonds remained. As Harry said in their first interview with the BBC, two of those diamonds came from his mother Princess Diana's jewelry collection.

We all have our own unique idiosyncrasies, and it seems that the Duchess of Sussex is no different. According to certain royal commentators, Meghan Markle has the slightly bizarre habit of staring at her husband Prince Harry during video conference calls. Like many of us, Meghan and Harry have had to take their work online in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Express reported, some people noticed that when Harry was speaking, Meghan tended to turn to look at her husband intently, rather than looking into the camera as most people tend to do during a video call.

As Keshia Chante said on ET Canada, "It always trips me out when Meghan stares at Harry while he's talking." She went on, joking, "I'm always like, 'What are you looking at? Is there something in his teeth?" (via Express). While it's definitely funny to watch the pair on video conference calls once you notice Meghan's odd habit, we think her "staring" is probably just good manners. After all, it's polite to give someone your full attention while they're speaking!