Real reason Meghan Markle’s marriage to first husband Trevor Engelson ended in divorce

Meghan Markle and Trevor Engelson were married for two years

Before Meghan Markle met her own Prince Charming, she had moved on from the divorce with first husband Trevor Engelson.

Meghan Markle and her ex had dated for six years before they tied the knot in a stunning beach wedding in 2011. They were together before her career in Hollywood and Suits skyrocketed.

It’s been claimed the royal ‘dumped’ her first hubby and family before meeting the Duke of Sussex. We take a look back at the Duchess of Sussex’s relationship with her ex, and what happened before and after their divorce.
Trevor Engelson and Meghan Markle filed for divorce in 2013 (Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images)

Who is Meghan Markle’s ex-husband Trevor Engelson?

Trevor, now 48, is a film producer and literary manager.

He’s worked on the likes of Outpost 37, Snowfall, The After Party and Heathers.

He also worked on Robert Pattinson’s 2010 film, Remember Me – which Meghan had a small cameo role in the flick.

Meghan Markle met Trevor Engelson and they began dating in 2004. At the time she was 23 and he was 28 years old.

He got down on one knee in 2010 and they tied the knot the following year overseas.

 
Meghan Markle with her first husband Trevor Engelson (Credit: Splash News)

Beach-side wedding

Meghan Markle and her first husband got married in 2011 on a beach resort at the Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

The wedding celebration took place over four days with their close friends, although the ceremony itself only lasted “10 minutes”, The Sun claimed.

It’s said to be a low-key affair, with everyone hitting the dance floor right after the couple exchanged vows. Reports also claimed guests were handed hemp gift bags containing samples of local marijuana.

Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle, who has never met the Duke of Sussex in person, “really liked” her ex husband. His comments praising her ex partner apparently upset Prince Harry.

He previously said: “He got to know my mother and he was always so kind and supportive. He was a perfect gentleman to my daughter and treated me with great respect.

“When he asked for Meghan’s hand, I could not have been happier.”

Meghan Markle and her first husband began dating in 2004 before getting married in 2011 (Credit: Sara De Boer/startraksphoto.com via Cover Images)

When did Meghan Markle divorce her ex husband?

The couple were divorced by August 2013, two years after their beach wedding, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

It’s believed after she moved to Toronto to film Suits, her hectic schedule caused issues in their relationship due to the long distance. Insiders claimed Meghan had posted her wedding and engagement rings back to her ex in LA while in Canada.

Meghan’s former best friend Ninaki Priddy served as Meghan’s maid of honour on the big day. They’d been best friends since childhood, but Ninaki said she was shocked by Meghan’s behaviour towards Trevor.

She was stunned at how the future royal ended the marriage shortly after she moved to Canada to film Suits. Especially, as she claims, Trevor would fly regularly out to visit her from California to her set in Toronto.

Ninaki told the Mail Online: “I think there was an element of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for Meghan.

“The way she handled it, Trevor definitely had the rug pulled out from under him. He was hurt.”

She and Meghan are no longer friends, and she wasn’t present at Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry.
Meghan has never opened up about her first marriage publicly (Credit: Splash News)

Moment that ‘angered’ Meghan Markle’s first husband Trevor

Acclaimed royal author Andrew Morton claimed Meghan Markle’s ex husband Trevor felt like he was unwanted by the actress towards the end of their marriage.

And he was particularly angry when she returned her engagement and wedding ring to him in the post.

In Andrew’s book, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, he wrote that Trevor could “barely contain his anger” when he received the rings back.

What’s more, he claims Trevor had cherished Meghan but began to feel like “a piece of something stuck to the bottom of Meghan’s shoe”.

Her ex ‘struggled’ after the break-up

An insider told The sun that the film producer struggled when his relationship broke down with the future royal.

It’s reported that when she began dating Harry, having to see it play out in public was tough for the LA-based executive.

A source claimed: “The split with Meghan hit Trevor pretty hard. He went through a rough time during the break-up and that was only made worse when Meghan got together with Harry last year. He had to re-live it all again — this time in public.

“It wasn’t the most amicable of divorces and there were hurt feelings on both sides. Now he has bounced back and things are looking great for him.”

Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle Snr spoke out about the Duchess’ first husband with the Daily Mail. He claimed he didn’t think Trevor Engelson “ever understood” why Meghan Markle ended the marriage with her first husband.

And a pal told the paper in 2023 that the split “crushed” him at the time.

They claimed: “For a long time, things were difficult for Trevor. He’s a good guy but Meghan crushed him when she demanded a divorce.

“When she took up with Prince Harry, he was crushed all over again because he was constantly reminded of her because of the publicity around the marriage and then the drama of the Oprah interview. But that’s all in the past now.”
The Duchess’ former co-star says they ‘bonded over their divorces (Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images)

What has the duchess said about her ex-husband?

Meghan has never publicly spoken out about her ex-husband Trevor. However, in Andrew Morton’s book he alleges that she found him “unprofessional”.

Apparently she critiqued his attempt to stream a podcast video and demanded that he not swig from a flask during filming.

She apparently texted him: “Put that flask down, it looks incredibly unprofessional.”

Andrew wrote: “The precast hinted at their personality differences, Trevor loose-lipped, unconcerned, carefree, a striking counterpart to Meghan, who was archly protective of ‘brand Meghan’, always keen to project an air of sophistication and style.

“She may have felt at times that Trevor was too brashly laid back for comfort, especially not that her star was rising; Suits had been picked up for a second season.”

Whereas, Suits co-star and friend Abby Wathen said she and Meghan Markle bonded over the pair both going through their own divorces at similar times.

She said: “I was destroyed [after my divorce], but [Markle] was empowered. She took her power back. It wasn’t the right relationship for her, so she moved on.”

Meghan Markle’s first husband had a ‘conversation’ about Prince Harry

In 2017, Engelson reportedly partly produced a proposed show about a man who had to share custody with his ex-wife who married a British prince.

Fox green-lit the show, but it never went anywhere. However, Deadline reported that the lead characters were not based on Prince Harry and his ex Meghan, but it did come from Engelson – in part.

It’s said that the idea came out of a conversation Trevor Engelson had with another producer about what would have happened if he and Meghan Markle stayed together and had kids. They discussed him trying to navigate sharing custody with Prince Harry and the British royal family while co-parenting.
Trevor and his second wife Tracey welcomed a daughter last year (Credit: Splash News)

Who did Trevor Engelson marry?

In 2019, Trevor Engelson married nutritionist and millionaire heiress Tracey Kurland, 38. Her net worth stretches to be worth a reported £190 million.

They began dating in 2017, four years after he broke up with Meghan, with their own wedding taking place 12 months after the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’. Trevor and Tracey’s nuptials took place in Montecito, California, – not far from Meghan and Harry’s stunning mansion in the celebrity neighbourhood.

They welcomed their first child together, a daughter Ford Grace, in August 2020 and another daughter Sienna Lee the following year. The pair then welcomed son Logan Stanford in February 2025.

He often gushes about his wife on Instagram, praising her after each labour.

When Ford arrived, he wrote: “Turns out 2020 ain’t so bad after all!

“My wife is a beautiful champion… I’m officially the happiest guy I know.”

Then a year later, he called her a ‘gangster’ after childbirth as he declared: “I don’t know what I did right, but I’m the luckiest guy I know.”