After weeks of speculation, Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle confirmed their engagement on Monday. The happy couple made the announcement at Kensington Palace and revealed that the nuptials will take place in spring 2018.
The ceremony could coincide with the actress’ fictional wedding on the USA series Suits. It’s said that Meghan’s character Rachel Zane will finally tie the knot with Mike Ross (played by Patrick J. Adams) when the end of season seven airs in the coming months.
Wedding planning isn’t the only thing her and her character have in common. Below, we examine the similarities between the beauty evolution of both Meghan and Rachel.
The happy couple: Prince Harry, 33, and Suits actress Meghan Markle, 36, announced their engagement on Monday
A natural beauty: Meghan has revealed that she is low-maintenance when it comes to her beauty routine and prefers a natural look
So similar! Meghan’s long waves and minimal make-up during an event in September (left) mimic the look of her character Rachel’s during season seven of Suits (right)
Since being linked to Prince Harry, Meghan has stuck to a palette of neutral tones against bronzed, glowing skin, which is both timeless and chic.
Her make-up artist Min Min Ma told E! that she relies on six products, including the YSL Touche Eclat and Jane Iredale Bronzer in Peaches and Cream, to achieve Meghan’s now-signature beauty style of ‘sun-kissed complexion, soft smoky eyes in bronzy, earthy tones and soft nude pink or coral lips’.
‘Meghan has naturally gorgeous skin, so I do very light skin make-up to ensure her freckles remain visible and use a bit of under-eye concealing,’ said the pro.
Lady in red! In the beginning of 2016, Meghan went through a crimson lipstick phase (left), while Rachel’s pout stayed neutral throughout season 6 of the show (right)
Up and away! Unlike Meghan, who has been known to wear her hair up for red-carpet events, like she did in 2014 (left), Rachel sticks to almost exclusively down ‘dos (pictured in season 5)
This current beauty look is very similar to that of her character, if not even more minimal when it comes to her everyday style.
‘I don’t wear foundation in real life,’ she told Allure recently. ‘My routine is very simple – I call it the five-minute face.
‘It’s just curled lashes, mascara, Chap Stick, and a little bit of blush. That is my favorite kind of look.’
Think pink: Before Meghan met Prince Harry, she was known to rock a bright, fuchsia lip (left). We’ve never seen Rachel (pictured here in season 4) in anything other than a neutral color
No curls here: When Suits began, Rachel wore her hair much straighter than she does now (pictured at right in season 3). Meghan also stuck to sleeker strands back in 2013 (left)
Rachel also prefers mostly neutral make-up, opting to emphasize her thick, well-groomed brows and clear complexion by wearing soft shades on her eyes and either a skin-tone or light pink lip color.
In the first two seasons, the show’s make-up artists seemed to like to contour Rachel’s cheeks in an almost Kardashian-like fashion, but that harsh, bronzed look has been softened in recent years.
Rachel’s natural freckles have also been covered up less in press images of the show lately, no doubt due to the open criticism that Meghan, who is bi-racial, has had of photo studios airbrushing them out in an attempt to ‘whitewash’ her skin.
Color theory: During Suits season 2, the show’s make-up artists heavily contoured Rachel’s cheeks (right). In real life, Meghan played with bold purple eyeshadow on the red carpet (left)
Rachel pairs her impeccably tailored clothing with perfectly coiffed hair that’s almost always parted down the center or just slightly to one side. She wears her brunette strands primarily straight with occasional face-framing wave at the ends.
The waves have become more pronounced and tad more bombshell-esque over the years, and her hair color appears to have gone from a medium brown to a slightly darker hue.
Meghan wears her hair similar to her character as well, though she’s been known to curl the ends rather than wave them – a style that has caused many to compare her bouncy ends to her future sister-in-law Kate Middleton’s signature style.
But the California native hasn’t always been so restrained in the beauty department.
Back in 2009, she made tight-lining her eyes with a thin black pencil her signature. Duchess Catherine has been criticized for using a similar technique that many think makes her look older and her eyes smaller.
Lashes for days: Sometime around 2012, Meghan discovered absurdly long fake eyelashes and/or extensions. She was photographed for years (including here in 2013) wearing them
Tight-lining queen: Meghan has only recently ditched the rim of black eyeliner she used apply to her upper and lower lash-lines (seen here in 2012, left, and 2013, right) – a move her potential sister-in-law Kate Middleton is also fond of
By 2012, Meghan had jumped fully onto the faux lash and/or lash-extension train and was rarely seen on the red carpet without a pair of long falsies.
Around the same time, she also began experimenting with color for highly photographed events. For example, she turned up to a fashion show wearing a shimmery lavender shadow on her lids and lower lash line and went with a smoky grey eye for a TV Guide party several months later.
In 2013, she moved on from emphasizing color on her eyes to trying it on her lips, with one memorable fuchsia lip moment during the Tory Burch show that September.
Meghan also used her rising star power to play around with her hairstyles, flipping regularly between stick-straight looks and soft updos.
Then in spring 2016, the actress went through a phase where she wore bright red lipstick to multiple events.
Spot treatment: Meghan’s natural freckles (left) looked airbrushed out of her promo pictures for Suits season 1 (right), a move that she later admonished photo studios for doing
Pre-Rachel: Before getting the role of Rachel on Suits, Meghan was a fan of very bronzed skin and much thinner eyebrows (pictured here in 2009)