To the Palace born | Daily Mail Online

  • Miss Markle snapped outside Buckingham Palace as a tourist, 21 years before engagement to Prince Harry
  • Remarkable image of the actress, from Los Angeles, was taken during a European summer trip back in 1996
  • Harry, 33, and Miss Markle, 36, announced engagement on Monday and will marry in May at Windsor Castle

This stunning photo shows Meghan Markle’s astonishing rise from teenage fan of the monarchy to member of the Royal Family.

Posing outside Buckingham Palace, the 15-year-old American tourist could not have known she would enter its gates 21 years later as the fiancée of a prince.

The remarkable image – taken during a European summer trip in 1996 – emerged the day after the announcement of her engagement to Harry.

 

A 15-year-old Meghan Markle poses in front of Buckingham Palace, with friend Ninaki Priddy, during a European trip in 1996

One person says she saw it coming and has warned the prince to be cautious. 

‘I’m not shocked at all,’ said Miss Markle’s childhood best friend Ninaki Priddy. ‘It’s like she has been planning this all her life.

‘She gets exactly what she wants and Harry has fallen for her play. She was always fascinated by the Royal Family. She wants to be Princess Diana 2.0. She will play her role ably, but my advice to him is to tread cautiously.’

In a dramatic series of announcements about the couple’s wedding plans yesterday, Kensington Palace revealed:

  • Miss Markle will apply to become a British citizen after she marries;
  • Harry and the divorcée will wed in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in May;
  • Miss Markle, whose father is an Episcopalian, will be baptised and confirmed in the Church of England before the wedding;
  • The couple say their big day will also be ‘fun and joyful’ – to match their personalities;
  • The wedding is likely to be televised with the public involved, possibly by ballot;
  • The Queen and Prince Charles will foot the bill – not Meghan’s once bankrupt parents – with the bride and groom in charge of arrangements;
  • Miss Markle will undertake her first royal engagements in Nottingham on Friday;
  • The couple will carry out their first official walkabout together and meet groups working in the fields of Aids and young people;
  • The former actress will then embark on an intensive six-month ‘tour’ of Britain to get to know her adopted country;
  • Separately, Theresa May defended her decision not to grant a wedding bank holiday
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle holds hands as they announce their engagement at Kensington Palace on Monday

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle holds hands as they announce their engagement at Kensington Palace on Monday

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle holds hands as they announce their engagement at Kensington Palace on Monday

Miss Markle's childhood friend Ninaki Priddy said she was 'not shocked' when she heard of the engagement as it was something the actress had 'planning' all her life

Miss Markle’s childhood friend Ninaki Priddy said she was ‘not shocked’ when she heard of the engagement as it was something the actress had ‘planning’ all her life

Miss Priddy and ‘Meg’ Markle met aged two at a prestigious kindergarten in Hollywood and became inseparable.

‘We were sisters, everyone knew that,’ said the 36-year-old jewellery designer. ‘We would be hand in hand, everywhere.’

Meghan’s father Thomas was a lighting director on popular US TV shows such as Married with Children and General Hospital.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend the Wheelchair Tennis on day 3 of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend the Wheelchair Tennis on day 3 of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017

A teenage Miss Markle with her father Thomas

Meghan Markle with her mother Doria Ragland

Left, a teenage Miss Markle with her father Thomas and right, the actress in later years with her mother Doria Ragland

From an early age, Meghan visited those sets and decided fame suited her, Miss Priddy said – laying the foundations for ‘Princess Pushy’ as she later became known.

The remarkable picture of Meghan outside Buckingham Palace is part of an exclusive set of images given to us by Miss Priddy and which covers her school days, college life and first wedding.

These glorious pictures can be seen in full in a 24-page glossy magazine given away free with Saturday’s Daily Mail.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk