Meghan Markle Is Quitting Acting to Become a Royal and Focus on “Causes”: “There’s a Lot to Do”

Since it finally came on Monday morning, the long expected announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are finally officially engaged has been pretty much unavoidable—and no doubt will continue to be until their wedding next spring. Buried in the excitement, however, was also the news that for Markle, becoming a royal also means stepping away from acting, aka her life’s main focus until just a couple of months ago.

So devoted has Markle been to her longtime role as a paralegal-turned-lawyer on the show Suits that she kept up with it long after the public’s attention to her relationship got so out of hand, the Royal Family’s communications secretary issued a statement that essentially said “Leave Meghan Alone.” Now that things are official, however, Markle seems eager to step up to her next role as a royal.

“What’s been so exciting [transitioning] out of my career and into, as you said, the causes I can focus even more energy on, very early out of the gate, [is that you] have a voice that people listen to, a lot of responsibility,” Markle, who studied international relations and is a UN Woman ambassador, said on Monday in her first joint interview with her fiancé, who backed up her decision by helpfully adding, “There’s a lot to do.”

While Prince Harry pointed out that he thinks Markle is “capable of anything,” he definitely seems delighted with her decision: He’s reportedly been grooming her into being a princess by familarizing her with the monarchy’s strange, often outdated ways. Quite unfortunately, those ways include keeping with tradition that because Markle does not have any royal blood, she will not be referred to as Princess Meghan. Instead, the BBC says there’s an “overwhelming likelihood” that she’ll become HRH Princess Harry of Wales—something that seems all the more sexist and unfair given that Markle is giving up her career to join the family.

Perhaps putting a tip she learned in princess lessons to use, Markle, however, was quite careful with her wording when pressed on deciding to give up her career. “I don’t see it as giving anything up. I see it is a new change, a new chapter,” she said, confirming that she’s definitely stepping away from Suits. “I’ve been working on my show seven years, we were so fortunate to have that longevity on a series. For me, once we hit the 100 episode marker, I thought, I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work we’ve done there and now it’s time to work as a team with [Harry].”

Whether she likes it or not, however, a version of herself will soon be appearing on-screen, thanks to her ex-husband, Trevor Engelson, who’s already found a way to profit off of her new romance: He just sold a pilot to Fox about a man whose ex marries into the British royal family.

Related: Meghan Markle Is Reportedly Being Groomed Into a Princess By Prince Harry

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