When you hear “Meghan Markle’s husband,” you probably instantly think of Prince Harry. However, Harry is actually Meghan’s second husband. Part of what made the royal marriage so shocking was that a British prince was marrying an American divorcee.
In fact, the only thing more shocking than the fact Meghan was married before is the shocking way she ended her first marriage to a man named Trevor Engelson. In fact, once you learn what Meghan did, you may never look at her the same way again!
Who was Meghan’s first husband, and just how badly did this marriage end? Keep reading to find out!
Who is Trevor Engelson?
Meghan’s first husband is Trevor Engelson. Back in the days when Meghan was focusing on her acting career, Engelson was somebody in a position to help her out.
In Hollywood, Engelson has been an assistant and then a producer, producing movies such as License to Wed and Remember Me. He has also produced TV shows such as Snowfall. Along the way, he has also served as a talent agent, which is quite possibly how he knew just how much potential Meghan Markle had even when she was mostly known for being a prize gal on Deal or No Deal.
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How did he meet Meghan Markle?
Neither Engelson nor Markle have said much about how the two met. All we really know is that the two met way back in 2004 and began dating. According to the Sun, the two dated for six years before getting engaged in 2010.
Where were their careers when they first began dating? In 2004, Markle had very little onscreen experience. She made an appearance in an episode of General Hospital in 2002 and an episode of Century City in 2004.
Engelson, too, was relatively new to Hollywood around that time. By 2004, he had merely served as a production assistant on Safe Men in 1998 and a staff assistant on Deep Blue Sea. His career as a producer wouldn’t start until 2005, one year after he began dating Markle.
Long engagement and a lavish wedding
In retrospect, one of the more surprising things about Engelson and Markle’s relationship is how long it lasted. As we noted, they dated six years before getting engaged and then married in 2011. Keep in mind that Meghan only dated Prince Harry for 16 months before getting engaged!
However, we have to admit that Engelson and Markle’s wedding sounded a bit more fun than the royal wedding. They invited people out for four days of fun in Jamaica. According to The Sun, the actual wedding ceremony only took about 15 minutes. The rest of those days were filled with parties and wild drinking games.
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The long-distance romance struggle
Despite that long period of dating leading up to the engagement, Engelson and Markle were only married for two years. And people can’t help but wonder why the two weren’t able to make it work.
It seems like the two struggled with long-distance relationships. Both of their Hollywood careers really took off while they were dating and then married. In Markle’s Deal or No Deal days, Express reports that Engelson was too busy to visit the set like other models’ boyfriends and husbands did.
However, the biggest threat to their marriage happened when before they got married. Markle landed the role in Suits that helped make her famous, but there was just one problem: that show filmed in Toronto. So she had to spend all her time there while Engelson was on the West Coast. The two couldn’t make long-distance work, and it resulted in a shocking breakup.
Breakup by mail
Most of our juicier info about Engelson and Markle comes from Andrew Morton, author of the book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess. As News.au reports, the book claims that ”the marriage ended so abruptly that Meghan sent Trevor her diamond wedding and engagement rings back by registered mail.”
How bad did the marriage really get? The book claims Meghan walked out of their house for her career almost instantly, pausing only to grab her favorite blender. And that Markle rebuffed Engelson’s attempts to move and be closer to her.
Ultimately, while Markle’s technique was better than a text message breakup, a Post Office breakup is also brutal.
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Different reactions to the split
Markle allegedly initiated the divorce. It should not be that surprising, then, that she seemed to take the breakup better than Engelson did.
Markle’s friend, Abby Wathen, had something to say about this in the documentary Prince Harry and Meghan: Truly, Madly, Deeply. As Metro reports, she said of Meghan that “We both went through divorce, so we bonded on that too. I was destroyed, but she was empowered. She took her power back. It wasn’t the right relationship for her, so she moved on.”
What about Engelson? These days, he seems to be doing alright: he is happily married to a woman named Tracey Kurland, and the two have a daughter together. And Engelson has allegedly turned down multiple lucrative cash offers to spill the beans about Meghan Markle and Megxit.
A few years ago, though, it seemed like Engelson had revenge on his mind. Back in 2017, Deadline reports he was working on a single-camera comedy focusing on a man whose ex-wife married a prince! He was eventually talked out of making this wildly petty move, and we can only imagine Markle is grateful for that decision.