Before landing the role of Rachel Zane on “Suits,” Meghan Markle supported her acting ambitious in any way she could. Thankfully for her, she is a masterful calligrapher. Because calligraphy is a dying art, it can be a lucrative deal. 

As her elegant handwriting paid her rent, she was able to attend auditions and get the small parts that led to her big break in 2011. But before turning to calligraphy as a means to pursue her Hollywood aspirations, Markle had an entirely different plan.

The Duchess of Sussex always dreamed of being an actor, having grown up on the set of “Married… with Children” with her photography and lighting director father. But she wanted to widen her options. 

When Markle got into college at Northwestern University to study theater, she added international relations as a second major. “I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this clich — a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress. I wanted more than that, and I had always loved politics,” she told Marie Claire in 2013.

Her studies led her to Argentina, where she spent a few months interning at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. The opportunity taught Markle valuable language skills, becoming fluent in Spanish. But acting spoke louder. While visiting family over the holidays, she met a manager who convinced her to go to an audition. Markle’s political plans were put on hold and her childhood talents were put to good use. 

Meghan Markle has her religious education to thank for her unique skill. At the Los Angeles Immaculate Heart High School, she had a handwriting class that set the foundation for her calligraphy career. “What it evolved into was my pseudo-waitressing job when I was auditioning. I didn’t wait tables. I did calligraphy for the invitations for, like, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton’s wedding,” she told Esquire in 2018.

Patton couldn’t have been happier with what she got. “I just thought Meghan did a beautiful job,” Patton, who divorced Thicke in 2015, told Town & Country in 2018. “It really is a lost art, and it was so nice to create something without a device that doesn’t use a battery or need to be plugged in.” Markle was also in charge of Dolce & Gabbana’s holiday correspondence, showing calligraphy was more than a casual job. “I would sit there with a little white tube sock on my hand so no hand oils got on the card, trying to pay my bills while auditioning,” she said.

Though Markle is now married to Prince Harry and a member of the British royal family, she reportedly continues to use her calligraphy skills. According to People, she was the one who designed the intricate logo for American Riviera Orchard, the lifestyle brand she launched in March 2024. “I think handwritten notes are a lost art form,” she once wrote in her former blog The Tig.

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