Meghan Markle has been in the news lately, and she is a topic widely discussed for the main part of the last quarter of 2017. This because, of course, of her engagement to England’s Prince Harry of the British Royal Family.
celebrityinsider.org
If you are fascinated by ancestry trees and tracking back such families, this should get interesting. As is well documented, Prince Harry’s ancestry can be easily tracked back to more than 1,000 years. In fact, the American model, actress and humanitarian’s antecedents can also be traced back to the 1400’s. What has aroused the fascination of many is her mother’s line of descent that touches the slaves from the American South.
In her blog, Markle describes herself as confident, strong and from a mixed race. In 1865, slavery was abolished in the United States, and every slave had to choose a surname. According to Markle, her great-great-great grandfather chose Wisdom. Researchers have, however, tried to delve into the history to trace the name Wisdom but still find no artefacts linked it. The available documentation suggests his name was Steve Regland, who was born in 1908 and died in 1983 in Los Angeles. Steve is said to have worked at a Chattanooga laundry. Their son’s death certificate- Jeremiah Regland remains to be the only written record. It states that he was a tailor, with most of the family working in laundries and department stores.
In an Elle article published in 2015, Markle wrote about her slave history, saying :
"anyone can create the identity they want like my ancestors did when they got their freedom."
Her 73-year-old father Thomas Markle has been tracked down at the seaside town of Mexico in a small clifftop house. Come May, it is expected that he will walk his daughter down the aisle at Windsor Castle. He has a quiet lifestyle, with most of his life revolving around eating tacos and shopping at Walmart. Markle, an Emmy-winning lighting director, has in the past, worked in different shows such as ‘Married’. Although he has been absent in the coverage of the impending royal wedding, the retired lighting director’s presence at the wedding will suggest that he and his daughter have put their past difficulties behind them.
businessinsider.com
Markle's father’s ancestry has been easy to trace, with several links leading to the British royal family. In fact, some publications suggest that Prince Harry and Markle are cousins. Markle could, in fact, have some relation through her father. This is because she has an ancestor- her great-great-grandmother named Martha Sykes.