28 Rare Images Of Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Before And During Their Relationship

Royal wedding fever is officially here. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are tieing the knot on Saturday May 19th and we can totally feel the excitement in the air. The wedding will happen at Windsor Castle and 600 wedding guests will look on as the happy couple says "I do." Of course, the royal family will be involved: Prince William will be Harry's Best Man (and Harry was Best Man for his brother, too) and Prince George and Prince Charlotte will be in the ceremony.

There are definitely a lot of things planned for the big day: after the couple travels through the area in a carriage, there will be lunch and then a reception at night. We totally wish that we could be among those 600 guests… but (sigh) we'll just have to settle for watching the coverage of the royal wedding on TV.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are already such a beloved, popular couple. When did they start dating? That would be the summer 0f 2016. They were set up by friends. If any of us are wondering if set-ups really work, this is proof that they definitely do.

Before the big day, let's take a trip down memory lane and look at some rare, beautiful images of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry!

28 Before: Meghan At Five Years Old

This adorable photo of Meghan Markle at five years old tells us some things about her childhood. It's no surprise that many kids who love to sing and dance or act grow up to be famous and they bring their skills and talents to Hollywood. As we can see from this picture, Meghan started early, and her little outfit and tights and fancy shoes are just too sweet.

Meghan has half-siblings that she doesn't seem to talk to anymore, which has been in the media quite a bit since the royal wedding is coming up. Her half-sister, Samantha Grant, has said that she's not going to the wedding (and she wasn't invited). But Samantha was interviewed by Entertainment Tonight and talked about Meghan's childhood: "We lived in a normal, little house in Woodland Hills, California. [We'd go] to the beach because it wasn't far away and going to the duck pond, which is one of her favorite things to do. She went to a private elementary school and high school and then college. It was very normal."

It sounds like Meghan was quite the performer when she was a kid. She would perform at school and enjoyed getting positive feedback from the audience.

27 Before: Harry With His Brother And Mom Diana

This photo of Prince Harry and Prince William with their late mom Princess Diana was taken in Spain in 1987. It's super adorable and also pretty sad since, of course, we know that Diana would love to see her son tie the knot to the beautiful Meghan Markle.

This picture makes Prince Harry and William look like regular old siblings: Harry is yelling and William is covering his ears because he just can't take his brother's loud voice anymore. This definitely sounds familiar for any of us who have older or younger siblings. There's just something about having a brother or sister, right? We just have to annoy them and they have to bug us right back. It's in the siblings' handbook or something. It's impossible not to look at this photo and think that the boys looked so cute together (and check out Harry's little blue shoes).

Prince Harry has said so many wonderful things about his mom over the years. In July 2016 (aka the time when he started dating Meghan Markle), Prince Harry said at a charity barbeque at Kensington Palace, "Everything can be okay, but I really regret not ever talking about it for the first 28 years of my life. I never talked about it.”

26 Before: Meghan Was Homecoming Queen

It's easy to assume that Meghan Markle has either always been famous since she is an actress and starred on Suits and since, of course, she's about to become a member of the royal family. But this photo of her at homecoming proves that yup, like most of us, she attended big, important, special high school dances. The fact that we can see a photo of her like this makes her even more likable and relatable, right? She's not some stuffy celebrity who acts like a diva. She seems so real and down-to-earth.

In November 1998, Meghan was given the honor of Homecoming Queen. As it turns out, Meghan is her middle name and her first name is Rachel, so when she was in high school, she went by Rachel Markle. She was also in a lot of high school productions, which is no surprise since we know that since she was a kid, it seems like she has really enjoyed performing.

According to Seventeen magazine, the fact that she was Homecoming Queen was a big deal and signaled something to come: she wore a tiara, as we can see in this snapshot, and that is, of course, a royal thing.

25 Before: Harry Having Fun As A Kid

As we can see from this photo, Prince Harry was quite the ham as a child and he was often seen smiling, laughing, and generally being silly.

Prince Harry definitely still talks about his mom on a regular basis, especially when he's interviewed. In May 2016, he was on the cover of People, and he said, "All I want to do is make my mother incredibly proud. That's all I've ever wanted to do… When she died, there was a gaping hole, not just for us but also for a huge amount of people across the world. If I can try and fill a very small part of that, then job done. I will have to, in a good way, spend the rest of my life trying to fill that void as much as possible. And so will William.”

In the same interview, he also talked about memories of Princess Diana: "I don't have that many memories of my childhood with my Mum. I don't say 'Right, I'm going to get involved in that because that's what my Mum would want me to do,' though inevitably once I'm doing it I think, 'Do you know what? She'd probably love this.'"

24 Before: Meghan At Fifteen Years Old Visiting London

This photo of Meghan Markle back in high school is pretty epic since she traveled to London with her BFF and her BFF's family. In fact, she and her friend are right in front of none other than Buckingham Palace. It's so interesting how things work out. It's like she was destined to be a royal one day.

The summer of 1996, Meghan was 15, and she traveled throughout Europe, so this picture was snapped during that time. Now that the royal wedding is upon us, people are sharing all kinds of things about both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and there are even videos of this summer that Meghan spent in Europe. She went to London, Brussels, and Switzerland.

Katie Nicholl, a royal expert, told Entertainment Tonight that Meghan has always been interested by all things royal: “She had a fascination with Princess Diana. She had Andrew Morton's book on her bookshelf as a child and one of her childhood friends, her mother also showed videos of Princess Diana. Meghan grew up very aware of Princess Diana and like most children of her generation, quite in awe of Diana. I certainly think that Diana has been an inspiration for Meghan.”

23 Before: Meghan In College

Meghan Markle might be marrying into the royal family, but back in 2003, she graduated from Northwestern University and it sounds like her college experience was fairly normal.

According to Teen Vogue, she majored in international studies and theater, and she was also in a sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma.

The sorority is known for its charity work, and one of Meghan's sorority sisters, Cari Hahn, was interviewed by Express Co Uk about how this works perfectly for Meghan's new royal role: "Kappa Kappa Gamma is very passionate about philanthropy and giving back to the community. I think Meghan will be able to use the skills she's learned and use them with her new role in the royal family. Meghan Markle is a wonderful representation of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She embodies and represents our core values.”

According to The Palm Beach Post, another sorority sister, Erica Bethe Levin, said of Meghan Markle, "she was so stunningly beautiful, it's a little ridiculous…  She made me think 'I can be a part of this.' Once you meet her, you can't forget her… If you had asked me 'Who do you know who's the person you know who most looks like a princess, I would have said Meg. And now, she is."

22 Before: Meghan At A Fast Food Drive-Through

We know that Meghan Markle led a fairly normal life before becoming a royal-to-be. She grew up loving to perform, she was given the title of Homecoming Queen, she went to college and was in a sorority, and now we see from this photo that, yup, she also went through some fast food drive-throughs.

Meghan Markle was on the cover of Vanity Fair in September 2017 and she shared what it was like to deal with all of the media attention once people caught wind of the fact that she was dating Prince Harry. She said, "It has its challenges, and it comes in waves-some days it can feel more challenging than others. And right out of the gate it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and, of course, my boyfriend's support.”

She continued later on in the same interview, “I can tell you that at the end of the day I think it's really simple. We're two people who are really happy and in love. We were very quietly dating for about six months before it became news, and I was working during that whole time, and the only thing that changed was people's perception. Nothing about me changed. I'm still the same person that I am, and I've never defined myself by my relationship.”

21 Before: Family Portrait (With The Family Dog)

If any of us grew up with a family dog, we know that this dog is a huge part of our childhood and we definitely consider them part of the family. We have so many happy memories with them. This sweet and adorable photo of Prince Harry and Prince William as kids with their parents Prince Charles and Princess Diana is even better because we see their cute dog as well.

Everyone has royal wedding fever right now but even when there isn't a big wedding to get excited about, it's safe to say that we all want to know as much as we can about the royal family. Reader's Digest wrote a story about the food that Prince Harry and Prince William enjoyed during their childhood. Darren McGrady, who used to be the chef for the royal family, said, "Although they were royal princes, they still had children's palates… Princess Diana would say, 'If you want fried chicken or loaded potato skins or hamburgers, that's fine.'" He also shared a hilarious story about getting a note asking for the kids to eat pizza for dinner instead of the chicken that was planned… but since he could tell that it was a kid's handwriting, he knew that one of the boys had written that.

20 Before: Harry And William During Childhood

Brothers might fight, particularly when they're kids, but it's clear that Prince Harry and Prince William share a really special bond. We can see that for sure in this photo of them as children. It's always fun to see photos of celebrities when they were kids, and that's definitely true of these royal brothers.

Now that Prince Harry is marrying Meghan Markle, Prince William will be his Best Man, and people are wondering about what kind of speech he will give. Of course, since Harry held that role when William married Kate Middleton, people are thinking about Harry's speech.

Someone who attended the wedding told The Mail on Sunday,  "Harry said William was the perfect brother. It was exactly how you would expect a best man's speech to be. He cracked loads of jokes about William. He called him a 'dude' several times. He kept coming back to it, saying 'What a dude'." Apparently, Harry said during the speech, "William didn't have a romantic bone in his body before he met Kate, so I knew it was serious when William suddenly started cooing down the phone at Kate." He also talked about Princess Diana, and so did Prince William when he gave his own speech at the wedding.

19 Before: Meghan At 11 Years Old

Here's another sweet photo of Meghan when she was only eleven years old.

When Meghan was growing up, her parents got divorced, and she lived with her mom in a two-bedroom apartment in L.A. When Meghan was interviewed by Esquire, she talked about living in Toronto while she was filming Suits: "And I'm a California girl. Born and raised in L.A. So it's quite the departure. But I like it. It's what I've always asked for: a show that gets picked up and becomes this successful. I'm so grateful, so I'll take Canada. We just celebrated Canada Day here. What we've been doing every year since we've been up here is Patrick J. Adams and his family have us up to their home on an island on the Georgian Bay."

She also shared growing up with a dad who worked in the TV industry: "My dad was a lighting director and director of photography for Married… with Children. He just retired actually last year. Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of Married… with Children, which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up. There were a lot of times my dad would say, "Meg, why don't you go and help with the craft services room over there? This is just a little off-color for your 11-year-old eyes."

18 Before: Harry With His Mom

This is another super sweet photo of Prince Harry and his mom, Princess Diana, and he really looks like any other kid here.

It's clear that when you lose a parent when you're very young, it's going to be a heartbreaking and difficult time in your life, and that was certainly true for Prince Harry and William.

Prince Harry once said, “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well. I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle.” He continued, "My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum, because why would that help?  [I thought] it's only going to make you sad, it's not going to bring her back… So I was a typical 20, 25, 28-year-old running around going 'life is great', or 'life is fine' and that was exactly it. And then [I] started to have a few conversations and actually all of a sudden, all of this grief that I have never processed started to come to the 
forefront and I was like, there is actually a lot of stuff here that I need to deal with.”

17 Before: Meghan's First Wedding

Meghan Markle might be able to wed Prince Harry, but she has actually been married before. This photo was taken in 2011 in Jamaica and her ex-husband is named Trevor Engelson.

It was a destination wedding and was a four-day thing. The Mirror said that it was basically the opposite of what Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal wedding will be. Meghan wore a simple dress with not much jewelry, and she even was wearing a yellow bikini before she and her first husband tied the knot. They were married for two years before making the decision to split up. It seems like it was the fact that they were living in different cities most of the time that led to their divorce since Meghan was in Toronto and Trevor was in L.A.

Meghan's maid of honor Ninaki Priddy said in an interview, "After the wedding, it was like a light switched off. There's Meghan Before Fame and Meghan After Fame. After three seasons of Suits, she called me to say the marriage was over. It's not up to me to speak for Trevor, but I know he was traveling to Toronto every few weeks and would have walked the earth to make their marriage work. The way she handled it, Trevor definitely had the rug pulled out from under him. He was hurt."

16 Before: Harry And An Ex-Girlfriend

Before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began their romance, he was linked to several women. One was Cressida Bonas, and this photo is of the two of them.

The two were together for two years and it seems like they broke up because she wasn't a fan of living in the spotlight. They started dating in 2012 and broke up in 2014.

It seems like once Prince Harry met Meghan Markle, he knew that was it: he once said "I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. I was like, I'm really going to have to up my game here."

When Prince Harry popped the question, he and Meghan were interviewed by Mishal Husain, and Mishal Husain spoke about what he witnessed: "I had a bit of time with them ahead of us recording the interview, so we talked a bit in that time as well. The overall I came away with is clearly they're a couple very much in love. You can see the bond between them, it's there in the body language. But I also was really struck that this is a couple who had to decide really early on in their relationship whether or not this has potential. I was really struck by the amount of thought they've put into about what it means to be together."

15 Before: Prince Harry Volunteering In Africa

This photo was snapped in the summer of 2014, which was two years before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle started dating since all signs point to their romance beginning in July of 2016.

Chris Jackson, the Getty royal photographer, was interviewed by Town and Country magazine about the photos that he has taken of Prince Harry and Prince William over the years, particularly of their involvement with charity. Princess Diana was really big into charity and did so much good work, and so the story was about how her two sons are honoring her by doing this as well.

Of this picture of Prince Harry in particular, when he was working with Sentebale, Chris Jackson said, "I love this moment when he was spinning around this child at a small orphanage. The kid is just beaming in the photo. And it's quite a funny story because I was working with a blind child who, because she was blind, her hearing was really heightened. And I was showing her the shutter on my camera. When you put it on high speed it goes ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. So she was helping me take photos because she loved the sound the camera. Her face just absolutely lit up, and she helped me take this photo of Prince Harry."

14 During: A Trip To Toronto For Meghan

This photo of Meghan Markle in Toronto (during a super snowy day) was taken on December 28th 2016. Since people say that her royal romance with Prince Harry started in July 2016, the pair would have been a thing for a few months at that point.

Meghan has talked about what it was like to live in Toronto while she filmed Suits and in one such interview with Hello magazine, she said, "It's really funny because I think as much of a big city as Toronto is, it's so different from L.A. or New York. There is no paparazzi so it's really easy to just have a normal life where you are not getting dressed for the day and worried about that element of it… If I just want to walk my dogs, I throw on a baseball cap and I'll do that. Then at the end of the day I can go 'great, now is my time to get dressed for myself and do it not because you know you are going to be photographed and someone is going to see you but because it's the sake of taking some fashion risks.'"

She also said of her personal style, “I mean I am born and raised in L.A so there is a casual sensibility that comes with that. Really like jean shorts and flip-flops as my daily uniform."

13 During: Engaging In A Rare Public Display Of Affection

This photo was taken in May 2017, and it's a super rare photo of the two lovebirds about to kiss. They are rarely photographed together and we definitely never see them kissing or showing much PDA, so this photo was a pretty big deal.

We know that Prince Harry has said some lovely things about his late mom, but what about his bride-to-be? He once said of their romance, "The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly is confirmation to me that all the stars are aligned." He also said about having her meet his royal family, "It was exciting! I'd been seeing her for a period of time when I literally didn't tell anybody at all, and then William was longing to meet her, and so was Catherine. They're our neighbors, so we've managed to get that in quite a few times now… Catherine's been absolutely amazing, as has William, as well, you know, a fantastic support."

Harry also talked about how the late Princess Diana would have gotten along with Meghan: "They'd be thick as thieves, without question. And she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, so excited for me."

12 During: First Time In Public Together

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attended the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017, people went pretty wild for them. As Hello magazine put it, "After more than a year of dating, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle finally made their first public appearance as a couple on Monday (Sept. 25), as they stepped out together for the Invictus Games." As the magazine also said, there was already talk of them getting married.

The couple was photographed holding hands during this event, and while that is definitely a typical thing for couples do, it made headlines. People disagree on whether there is a royal rule about no PDA or not very much, but if there is,  according to a story in Vogue magazine, "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Changing the Rules on Royal PDA."

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are sometimes displaying PDA, people have wondered why we don't see that with Kate Middleton and Prince William. As Popsugar put it, "It may seem like there's royal protocol at play, but contrary to popular belief, there actually isn't any formal rule that discourages the couple from showing PDA. Rather, since Kate and Will are 'working representatives of British Monarchy,' they likely just prefer to remain professional during their public outings and obligations and are mindful of how it may come off if they're just all over each other at, say, a children's hospital or church visit."

11 During: A Smiling Meghan (With Flowers)

This photo of Meghan looking beautiful in a pale pink coat and holding flowers was taken in May 2017.

Even though it seems like most people are thrilled for the soon to be married couple, there have been some haters. According to Popsugar, the bride-to-be once said of that, "Of course it's disheartening. It's a shame that that is the climate in this world, to focus that much on that, to be discriminatory in that sense. I think, you know, at the end of the day, I'm really just proud of who I am and where I've come from and we have never put any focus on that. We've just focused on who we are as a couple. And so when you take all those extra layers away and all of that noise, I think it makes it really easy to just enjoy being together."

Meghan also has some hobbies: she has said that she loves traveling and cooking. She told Marie Claire, "I love to cook. My character is a foodie because they know that I'm a foodie. I'm always on the quest to find amazing new restaurants and new recipes. I'm a California girl, right? I grew up with that farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation. I do think there's some value to really throwing yourself into food and embracing where it comes from. I love to travel, too… I always want off-the-beaten-path, Anthony Bourdain-inspired travel."

10 During: In A Car Together

We can see the huge diamond on Meghan Markle's ring finger here, so it seems like this photo was taken after they had gotten engaged. This is a rare, candid photo of the two of them in a car together.

We all love engagement stories. When a friend gets engaged, our first question is, "So, can you tell us everything?!" So, naturally, when a celebrity or a member of the royal family is going to marry someone, we want to know this even more. When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got engaged, they were interviewed by BBC, and shared a lot about their engagement. Meghan said, "Just a cozy night. What were we doing? We were trying to roast a chicken."

She also talked about her experience being Harry's girlfriend: "I think I can very safely say, as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half, I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like. There's a misconception that because I have worked in the entertainment industry that this was something I'd be familiar with, but even though I'd been on my show for six years at that point and working before that, I'd never been part of tabloid culture; I was never in pop culture to that degree."

9 During: Meghan Having A Spa Day

This photo was taken in May 2017 when Meghan Markle had a spa day.

Meghan definitely looks very down-to-earth here since she's wearing cropped leggings and sneakers. It's not what we would typically think that we would see royals wearing. For example, we usually see Kate Middleton in pretty coats and dresses. Of course, she wasn't a royal yet, or even a royal-to-be since she and Prince Harry hadn't gotten engaged when this photo was taken.

A lot of focus has been on the fact that the paparazzi and media has been following Meghan Markle since she started dating Prince Harry, so Meghan has, understandably, been asked about how she feels about that. We often hear celebrities say that they don't want to read stories about themselves since sometimes, the things that are written about them just aren't true, and it seems like Meghan feels the same way. In her and Harry's BBC interview, she said, "We were just hit so hard at the beginning with a lot of mistruths that I made the choice to not read anything, positive or negative. It just didn't make sense, and instead we focused all of our energies just on nurturing our relationship."

8 During: Looking Happy And Peaceful

This photo was taken in November 2017. We can't see her ring finger in this snapshot so it's hard to know if she was wearing her engagement ring here, but maybe they were already engaged since they got engaged in November 2017.

In his and Meghan Markle's BBC interview after the engagement, Prince Harry said, "This beautiful woman just literally tripped and fell into my life" and then shared his thoughts on the media coverage of them: "I tried to warn [Meghan] as much as possible, but I think both of us were totally surprised by the reaction after the first five, six months that we had to ourselves, of what actually happened from then. So I think you can have as many conversations as you want and try and prepare as much as possible, but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that."

Of course royal weddings get tons of press and attention, but so do royal engagements, and in particular, the engagement ring. Princess Diana was a part of it: one of the diamonds was from Diana. Meghan Markle said of the ring, “It's incredibly special to be able to have this, which sort of links where you come from and Botswana, which is important to us, and it's perfect."

7 During: Dinner At The Soho House

This photo was taken in February 2017 when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were photographed going out for dinner at London's Soho House. According to someone who spoke to The Sun, "They tried to keep as low-key as possible and were sitting in a small snug area of the restaurant. But it wasn't a private area and they were happy to be seen. Gary Lineker and a whole host of the Made In Chelsea cast were also there, but they only had eyes for each other.”

We might think that, well, what was the big deal? Couples go out for dinner all the time, right? Why did people care so much (besides the fact that, of course, Prince Harry is a royal)? Since they started dating in the summer of 2016, February 2017 was still a time when Meghan and Harry seemed pretty mum about their romance. That's why the fact that they were seen together at this restaurant was such a big deal.

A friend also said during this time about the happy couple, "They've taken things to the next level. They're practically living together. She cooks for him, he pops out to the gym and they're just enjoying hanging out."

6 During: On Their Way Somewhere

Meghan has said that she loves to travel, and it seems like Prince Harry does, too, given the fact that he's a member of the royal family and the royals often do public engagements in various places. Here is a photo of the two, headed somewhere or perhaps coming back from a trip.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry love to travel together, and much has been written about how much they enjoy going to Africa.

Meghan once talked about her love of travel: "My mother was a travel agent as I grew up, so we would go on many trips. Being in LA, Hawaii and parts of Mexico were the most accessible. I remember being nine years old in Oaxaca, Mexico going to the Day of the Dead festival and eating mole before mole was a cool thing to eat. It's funny because I can now see how that's translated into my palate for travel. I think I was really fortunate - my mother always wanted to expose me to local culture." She continued, "I feel like I would have always had the travel bug, but Suits opened so many doors for me. I launched TheTig.com, which is my lifestyle website, last year and I do a lot of travel for that featuring luxury and boutique properties."

5 During: After A Radio Interview

We're pretty used to knowing a lot about the royal family and we always want to find out as much as we can about them. It turns out that when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were set up by a friend, she didn't actually know a ton about him.

According to Popsugar, she once said, "It was definitely a set-up, it was a blind date… Because I'm from the States, you don't grow up with the same kind of understanding of the royal family, and so while I now understand very clearly there's a global interest there, I didn't know much about him. So the only thing that I had asked her [the mutual friend] was 'Is he nice?' because if he wasn't kind, it didn't seem like it would make sense."

Of course, we would say that Prince Harry is absolutely very kind, and things have worked out for them. She has also spoken about the proposal, "It was just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got down on one knee… As a matter of fact, I could barely let [him] finish proposing, like, 'Can I say yes now?!'"

4 During: Meghan On A Visit To Toronto

After Meghan Markle and Prince Harry started dating, people talked about how she was spending a lot of time with him in London, but she would still go back to Toronto. This photo was taken during one of those visits to Toronto.

She once shared how London is one of her favorite places: "Being an LA girl, I love the sunshine and the beach so I'm always trying to find a new destination for that. I grew up spending a lot of time in Jamaica, which I really loved, and I've started to explore further than that, like Palawan Island in The Philippines. I've been spending a lot more time in Europe, which has been fantastic. London has become a second home for me. The Jumeirah Group hosted me while I was in London for five days and their property there was just wonderful. Of course, everyone loves London and Paris, but I always like to explore something a little bit lesser known. I went to Belize and spearfished for lobster and after that adventurous leg of travel, I stayed at the Coppola's inland property [Blancaneaux Lodge] which is a luxury eco-resort. For me, it's always about finding that balance."

3 During: Wedding Guests

This photo was taken in March 2017 at a wedding in Jamaica. This is considered to be a rare appearance for the soon-to-be-married couple.

Of course, their royal wedding will be very different from a destination one, and people are definitely talking about the upcoming big day. There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Meghan's dad will come to the ceremony, let alone walk her down the aisle. A royal spokesperson said, "This is a deeply personal moment for Ms. Markle in the days before her wedding. She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr. Markle in this difficult situation.” The latest information is that, no, he won't be coming."

Meghan said, "Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding. I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health. I would like to thank everyone who has offered generous messages of support. Please know how much Harry and I look forward to sharing our special day with you on Saturday.” Her mom will definitely be there, though, and she went to London days before the big day.

2 During: Meghan, Harry, And Meghan's Mom

This photo of Meghan, Harry, and Meghan's mom is definitely a candid one. It seems like it was taken at the Invictus Games in Toronto in the fall of 2017.

Since, of course, Meghan is going to be a royal, people have been talking about her mom and wanting to get to know her. Her name is Doria Ragland and she has a special nickname for her daughter: Flower. Isn't that so sweet?! It's just one more reason to love Meghan Markle.

Meghan used to have a lifestyle blog called The Tig, and in one post, she said, "I'm consistently asked how I keep a foot in two contrasting worlds-one in the entertainment industry, predicated on wealth and indulgence, and the other in humanitarian work. To me, it's less of a question of how can you do this, and more a question of how can you not?"I don't know, Flower. You were just born that way.' This is my mom's response to the aforementioned question, and indicative of the character traits she knows me to have so well: opinionated, driven, and with a deep desire to affect change. 'It's just who you are,' she says. (And yes, she calls me, 'Flower.')"

1 During: Meghan Out And About

Here's a photo of Meghan Markle walking around, and while we don't see a ton of photos of her and Prince Harry together, we definitely see some paparazzi shots of her. Sometimes she's holding a yoga mat so it seems like she is coming to or from a class.

When she was interviewed by Best Health magazine, she talked about her love of yoga: "Yoga is my thing. My mom is a yoga instructor, and I started doing mommy-and-me yoga with her when I was seven. I was very resistant as a kid, but she said, “Flower, you will find your practice - just give it time.” In college, I started doing it more regularly. I used to run all the time, but I typically get picked up for work at 4:15 in the morning on a Monday, so there isn't much time for jogging and I would rather have that extra hour of sleep. Now, I change it up: I'll do yoga a couple times a week - hot yoga, specifically - with Duncan Parviainen (see “Duncan Dos!” below). He is so positive and, especially in my industry, it's so important to surround yourself with people who are grounded and really optimistic."

References: Dailymail.co.uk, Townandcountrymag.com, Harpersbazaar.com, Theguardian.com, Express.co.uk, VanityFair.com, Palmbeachpost.com, ETonline.com, Ca.hello.magazine.com, Telegraph.co.uk, Rd.com, Mirror.co.uk, Popsugar.com, Thesun.co.uk