Smiling into the camera like
the iconic hooded figure from the Scottish Widows TV adverts, her appearance in
the scene was one to savour. But, despite the striking similarities, the then
actress Meghan Markle was not shooting a commercial.
She was in Malta researching
her roots and the headdress she was wearing was an essential prop.
Her visit to the Mediterranean
island was in 2015, a year before she met her future husband Prince Harry, and
the trip has since become an essential waypoint in the narrative of the Duchess
of Sussex’s life. She later wrote that its purpose was about ‘trying to
understand where I came from, my identity’, adding: ‘There is something so
lovely about fitting in a piece of the puzzle.’
The Royal Family are bracing
for a new biography of Meghan Markle, written by Tom Bowyer, in which he talks
to more than 80 people who have known the princess for many years
In a blog post at the time
Meghan said: ‘Before I came people were telling me, “When you go to Malta,
everyone will look like you”, and I started to say, “Oh, my gosh, I do sort of
blend in” and it’s the loveliest of feelings.’
She recalled her Markle
grandmother saying that her father’s great-great-great grandmother Mary lived
in Malta with a British soldier called Thomas Bird. They married and had a
child born in 1862. The story had the added piquant twist that Mary was said to
have been employed as a cook at Windsor Castle. A remarkable tale, you might
think, for someone who was to marry the Queen’s grandson. But is it true?
