8 Things We Learned From Meghan Markle's Latest Interview

Meghan Markle has spoken publicly for the first time about her relationship with Prince Harry, almost nine months after it became international news.

In a long and varied cover interview for Vanity Fair, the Suits actress opens up about being in love with the 32-year-old royal as well as her childhood as a biracial young women in Los Angeles against the backdrop of the Rodney King riots.

Here are the main things we learned from the interview:

She’s really in love.

Markle repeatedly refers to Prince Harry as her "boyfriend" in the interview and talks idyllically about their relationship.

“We’re a couple. We’re in love. I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time," she says. "This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that’s just ours. But we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story.”

Markle dated Prince Harry for six months in private before the news broke.

Reports of the newest royal relationship emerged in late October 2016, with the Prince confirming it through a statement shortly after. He also attacked parts of the media for the “wave of abuse and harassment” directed towards Markle and called for privacy.

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In the interview, Markle reveals that the couple got to enjoy around six months of privacy before their relationship was made public, having met in July, 2016.

“We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people’s perception. Nothing about me changed. I’m still the same person that I am, and I’ve never defined myself by my relationship.”

She doesn’t read any press about herself.

Markle reveals she avoids reading stories about her, which must be difficult given the constant press attention.

“I don’t read any press. I haven’t even read press for Suits,” she says. “The people who are close to me anchor me in knowing who I am. The rest is noise.”

She used to work at a restaurant.

Pre-Suits, Markle had her start just like most struggling actors, working multiple jobs to support herself while auditioning. She did calligraphy and worked as a hostess in a restaurant, while her parents also took “all the odds-and-ends jobs to pay [her] bills” and support her.

Harry helps her handle the media glare.

Being suddenly thrust into such an intense spotlight must be difficult, but Markle says it is made easier knowing she has Prince Harry’s support and guidance.

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“It has challenges and it comes in waves—some days it can feel more challenging than others,” she said. “And, right out of the gate, it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend’s support.”

She grew up on the set of Married... With Children

Markle’s father was a lighting director in Hollywood, who primarily worked on sitcoms and dramas like Married... With Children and General Hospital, so Markle spent much of her childhood on set.

“Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of Married… with Children, which was a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic-school uniform to grow up.”

She was the first person in her family to go to college.

Markle majored in theater and international relations at Northwestern University in Illinois and, in doing so, became the first member of the family to graduate from college.

She loves her freckles.

Since taking part in more and more photoshoots, she became aware that when she was photographed her freckles would later be edited out of pictures—something she was not happy with.

“I’ve always loved my freckles,” she says, adding that she was thrilled to be photographed by Lindbergh as he rarely retouches his images.

Related article: Prince Harry Takes Meghan Markle to Africa For Her Birthday

From: Harper's BAZAAR US