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Many people know that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is married to Prince Harry. However, before meeting her current husband, she tied the knot with someone else.

Not much is known about Meghan’s first marriage, but a childhood friend once alleged that they divorced because Meghan found her ex-husband “embarrassing.”

Meghan Markle smiling close up
Meghan Markle | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Meghan Markle was married to her ex-husband for two years

Before Harry, Meghan was married to film producer Trevor Engelson. The two of them started dating in 2004 when Meghan was still trying to make it in Hollywood. They dated for many years before getting married in 2011 in Jamaica.

Unfortunately, their marriage lasted only two years; the couple divorced in 2013.

It should be noted that, for much of the marriage, Meghan starred on the show Suits, which was filmed in Toronto, Canada. Because Engelson worked in the United States, the couple ended up living apart for many months in a given year.

Meghan Markle reportedly divorced Trevor Engelson because he was ‘embarrassing’

A lot of onlookers believe distance caused Meghan and Engelson to grow apart. However, a childhood friend named Nikki Priddy alleged that Meghan felt Engelson was becoming “embarrassing” for her image.

Author Lady Colin Campbell wrote in the book Meghan and Harry: The Real Story that, after moving to Toronto, Meghan began hanging out with Toronto’s elite. For example, she became friends with celebrity stylist Jessica Mulroney, whose husband is Ben Mulroney, the eldest son of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. This reportedly led Meghan to want to distant herself from Engelson.

“Trevor had always been laidback where she was controlled and controlling,” author Lady Colin Campbell wrote in the book Meghan and Harry: The Real Story. “He would arrive for appointments slightly late and dishevelled, his shirt out of his trousers and maybe a spot of food on his lapel, while the perfectly contained and self-possessed Meghan was always immaculately turned out.”

Lady Colin, then, cited Priddy in details about Meghan and Engelson’s divorce, writing, “According to Nikki’s interpretation of Meghan’s motives, having found herself a new and more ‘classy’ circle of friends, she did not wish to be bogged down with her embarrassing misfit of a husband or even her old and less Establishment circle of friends.”

There are even reports that Meghan broke up with Engelson by simply mailing her wedding ring to him.

Meghan Markle has 2 children with Prince Harry

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Whether these claims are true or not, it seems Meghan and Engelson have both moved on from their marriage.

Engelson later married dietician Tracey Kurland, and they have one daughter together.

Meanwhile, Meghan married Harry in 2018 and became one of the most famous royals in the world. The couple has two children: Archie Harrison (born 2019) and Lilibet Diana (born 2021).

Meghan and Harry both stepped down as senior royals in 2020. They and their family subsequently moved to Montecito, California, to establish more private lives away from the British media.