Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle\u2019s journey wasn\u2019t just that of a struggling actress waiting for her big break\u2014it was something far more intricate, and possibly strategic. The tale now floating around is either a comical misunderstanding or a carefully curated illusion. According to royal insiders, Meghan once stood next to Queen Elizabeth II and asked Harry, \u201cWho\u2019s that next to your grandmother?\u201d\u2014referring to none other than Prince Andrew, the Queen\u2019s own son. Some say it was an innocent moment of naivety. Others think it was brilliant misdirection.<\/p>\n
But to fully understand why this moment raised so many eyebrows, we need to rewind\u2014far back\u2014before \u201cSuits,\u201d before Harry, and before Meghan became a household name.<\/p>\n
In the early 2000s, Meghan was an aspiring actress who\u2019d yet to land any serious fame. But according to a UK journalist who once met her for drinks, she wasn\u2019t just another Hollywood hopeful. She was someone actively seeking access. British fame, he claimed, was something she craved\u2014and she wasn\u2019t shy about admitting it. During their conversation, she reportedly vented about dating struggles and even mentioned footballer Ashley Cole, who at the time was in hot water over cheating allegations. When the journalist brought up those scandals, Meghan’s reaction was visibly shaken.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s just the surface. The deeper you look, the stranger the story gets.<\/p>\n
There are whispers of connections to a man named Yuan Elash\u2014a wealthy, discreet figure said to be close to Prince Andrew. While Elash has stayed largely out of headlines, sources say he was behind many luxurious trips that insiders\u2014including Andrew\u2014reportedly took to places like Thailand and the Mediterranean. Oddly, Meghan\u2019s own college sorority was known for socializing with powerful men, and some of her sorority sisters claimed she traveled abroad frequently, often to places where Elash was active.<\/p>\n
In 2001, Meghan reportedly spent time in Thailand, and later joined a yacht trip around the Mediterranean, mingling with high society. Photos of one such trip allegedly include familiar faces\u2014one of them being Karina Shulak, the last known girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. Meghan, wearing a white hat and grinning, may have appeared in one image from that voyage, sparking speculation about the crowd she kept before her royal days.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t end there.<\/p>\n
Officially, Meghan did an embassy internship in Argentina, something she\u2019s mentioned in interviews. But university records also show a mysterious three-month study program in Spain\u2014a time she\u2019s never publicly addressed. For someone so fond of storytelling, it’s strange she never once shared memories of what should have been a glamorous European adventure. Some believe those months were spent traveling with influential friends, attending high-end gatherings far from the spotlight.<\/p>\n
By 2012, she was in Hong Kong, supposedly promoting \u201cSuits\u201d\u2014a show that wasn\u2019t exactly global at the time. Yet she was flown business class, gave interviews that have since mysteriously disappeared from the internet, and reportedly mentioned royalty being \u201caround.\u201d Coincidentally, Prince Andrew was confirmed to be in Hong Kong at the time. No photos of them together exist, but event insiders recall them attending the same exclusive parties.<\/p>\n
This pattern repeats. In 2013, Meghan showed up at a star-studded gala for Novak Djokovic\u2019s charity in New York. Official photos don\u2019t include her, but a solo image\u2014allegedly paid for by Meghan herself\u2014proves she was there. Reports say Prince Andrew was in the city at the same time, despite his travel schedule listing him elsewhere.<\/p>\n
In 2015, Meghan attended the grand opening of Soho House in Istanbul\u2014an event packed with celebrities and royals. She posted a photo with actor Eddie Redmayne from that party, but media outlets listed everyone in the photo\u2026 except her. It\u2019s almost like she was there, but invisible.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the Jamaica wedding in 2017\u2014Meghan flew privately, reportedly courtesy of billionaire Ron Burkle, while Harry flew economy. Eugenie, Fergie, and Prince Andrew were all at the same event, yet curiously absent from official coverage.<\/p>\n
These moments paint a picture of someone who was never fully in the room, but always just close enough to matter.<\/p>\n
So, when Meghan claimed she didn\u2019t know who Prince Andrew was, some found it charming. Others found it suspicious. After all, if she had already floated through so many elite social circles linked to Andrew\u2014at yacht parties, charity events, luxury galas\u2014how could she not recognize him?<\/p>\n
Of course, none of this proves wrongdoing. But the breadcrumbs are hard to ignore. Meghan\u2019s quiet rise into elite society wasn\u2019t accidental. It was calculated, discreet, and impressively executed.<\/p>\n
Was it destiny that brought her to Prince Harry\u2014or design?<\/p>\n
Either way, one thing is clear: before she ever wore a tiara or signed a royal document, Meghan Markle already knew how to play the long game. And perhaps, that\u2019s why she was always two steps ahead\u2014even when pretending not to know who stood beside the Queen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle\u2019s journey wasn\u2019t just that of a struggling actress waiting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,50448,6583,7721,7719,21003,98525,7718,12160,7720,1281,3577,20361,447,29345,7710,519,5598,6093,7711,15001],"class_list":{"0":"post-256763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-buckingham","10":"tag-curious","11":"tag-duchess-of-sussex","12":"tag-duke-of-sussex","13":"tag-from","14":"tag-gates","15":"tag-harry","16":"tag-markle","17":"tag-meghan","18":"tag-meghan-markle","19":"tag-of","20":"tag-parties","21":"tag-prince-harry","22":"tag-rise","23":"tag-royal-families","24":"tag-royal-family","25":"tag-the","26":"tag-to","27":"tag-uk-royal-family","28":"tag-yacht"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114835842996457019","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}