On November 27, the Clarence House Twitter announced Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement, whose wedding is set for the Spring of 2018.  The Clarence House is the London home of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, so the announcement was made from the behalf of Prince Harry’s father.  In an interview, the couple established that Prince Harry proposed in November while the couple was making dinner together at home.  The prince designed the engagement ring himself, using three diamonds, with two of them being from Princess Diana’s collection.    

Markle will be the first American and biracial woman to obtain the title of a princess.  Originally an actress on the legal drama “Suits”, model and humanitarian, she had no relations to royalty, similar to Kate Middleton before she married Prince William.  The soon-to-be princess has also involved herself in humanitarian work and established herself as a “proud woman and feminist.”  Markle worked with organizations like UN Women and was a Global Ambassador for the charity World Vision, who has come forward to praise Markle as a “true humanitarian” for the work she did in Rwanda to help provide clean water to children.  

The couple’s relationship has been scrutinized by the public and the media, highlighting the racism that is still very prominent in the United Kingdom.  Markle is biracial, with an African American mother and an Dutch-Irish father, so racism is not unusual to Markle.  As an actress, Markle has said, “I wasn’t black enough for the black roles, and I wasn’t white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as an ethnic chameleon who couldn’t book a job.”  Prince Harry’s Press Secretary has criticized the media of introducing “racial overtones” into their coverage of the couple and revealed that the Prince is worried about Markle’s safety.  It is disgusting that some of the coverage of the couple has gotten to the point in which Harry is fearing for his fiance’s safety- especially since his mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash that is largely blamed on the media.

Much of the questionable coverage by the media is not outwardly racist, but prejudice undertones are still prevalent, with some news outlets even exploiting her race as a commodity.  One article from The Mail wrote that Markle would bring “rich and exotic DNA” to the royal family.  The Daily Sun tweeted out an article about Markle with a caption reading, “From slaves to royalty, Meghan Markle’s upwardly mobile family.”  The Spectator magazine claimed, “Obviously, 70 years ago, Meghan Markle would have been the kind of woman the prince would have had for a mistress, not a wife.”

This blatant racism and sexism is shameful to England as well as the rest of the world- especially here in America where discrimination is sadly not uncommon.  This coverage further proves that modern day racism is not just an American issue- but it is visible all over the world. However, people of color will continue to defeat these barriers, as Markle has as an accomplished actress, humanitarian, and as the first biracial woman to marry a senior member of the royal family.  Markle is well suited for her role as a soon-to-be duchess and will serve her role with dignity and pride, bringing more honor and accomplishment to the royal family.