Shady Relationship Rumors That Have Plagued Meghan Markle Since Becoming A Royal

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Ever since Meghan Markle exchanged vows with Prince Harry in May 2018 in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, her life has been under constant scrutiny. Critics have dug through every aspect of her past looking for dirt, and many of her family members have been happy to provide the public with tidbits and tasty morsels to eat up. Her sister, Samantha Markle, has been in a long and public feud with Meghan and Harry for years, and she's been the target of a savage roast by her own father, Thomas Markle.

Along the way, a conspiracy theory cottage industry has cropped up around Meghan, accusing her of countless terrible things. She's been accused of plotting to tear down the British Monarchy, using her royal status for money and connections, and even hiring child actors to pose as her kids in her social media posts. Some have claimed that her "flirty," touchy-feely behavior with William, Prince of Wales may have led to the drama between Harry and William in the years to come.

As the conspiracies ebb and flow and change with time, there are a few rumors about Meghan's love life that continue to pop up time and again. While Meghan has largely ignored these rumors, and others around her have flat-out denied them, they persist among the corners of the internet in which Meghan can never catch a break. From claims that she was involved in a relationship when she began dating Harry, to wild speculation regarding a supposed secret marriage, here are some of the shady rumors that have swirled around the Duchess of Sussex ever since she first joined the royal family.

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry went on their famous blind first date, it seems Meghan may have not have actually been single. According to author Tom Bower, Markle was living with her then-boyfriend, chef Cory Vitiello, at the time. In his 2022 book "Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors," Bower — a vehement and outspoken critic of Harry and Meghan — claimed Meghan had her sights set on marrying a prince, and living with her boyfriend wasn't going to get in her way.

Bower claimed in his book that, wile Meghan and Vitiello were already beginning to wind down their relationship, they were still living together when Meghan began dating Harry. According to Bower, Harry flew out to Toronto to visit Meghan and crashed with one of Meghan's close friends as she navigated dating her new beau while still living with her soon-to-be-ex. "With Cory [Vitiello] still sharing her home, the situation for Meghan was tricky but manageable," Bower wrote (per Newsweek). "At the end of the week, after he returned to London, Meghan was convinced that her spell was cast and the relationship with Harry would be sealed. She told Cory that their affair was over. Unaware of the circumstances, he was relieved."

In 2024, actor Tim Matheson — who once directed Meghan on "Suits" — made a claim that could imply Meghan and Vitiello's romance was more serious than expected (although he didn't mention Vitiello by name). "It was odd because she was engaged to somebody else [when I met her]," Matheson told Fox News Digital (via New York Post) when asked about Meghan's engagement to Harry. It's possible this was an assumption on his part, since Markle and Vitiello were reportedly living together.

One of Meghan Markle's best friends is a man named Markus Anderson, and he's been one of her closest confidantes throughout the past decade. The pair became close while they both lived and worked in Toronto. Markus even reportedly played a key role in the blind date that would lead to Meghan meeting and eventually marrying Prince Harry, and he helped keep Meghan and Harry's romance hush-hush in the early days.

Throughout Meghan's romance with Harry, Markus has been right there, by their side. He was a guest at their wedding, at Meghan's baby shower, and he even reportedly went on a trip with Harry, Meghan and their kids to Disney in 2025. However, Meghan and Markus' close connection has led to some intense speculation as to the actual nature of their relationship. This was particularly true after photos surfaced from 2014, showing Meghan and Markus sharing a dinner with actor Stanley Tucci. In the photo, Meghan is standing next to Markus, who is seated, and some have assumed their closeness implies a romantic connection.

"Has anyone seen these pictures before? MM was clearly in a relationship with Markus Anderson!" one X user suggested. Another X user wrote, "She always looks happy and relaxed in his company. Only time she does." Of course the many royal family conspiracy theories run much deeper, and darker, as well, with baseless claims that Meghan and Markus planned to bag a prince and use him for his money. As the internet has proven time and again, Meghan can't even walk down the street without getting showered with abuse from social media haters and the tinfoil hat brigade.

Meghan Markle was married once before, when she tied the knot with film producer Trevor Engelson in 2011. The pair's surprisingly messy divorce came in 2013, three years before she first crossed paths with the prince. However, one wild and particularly persistent rumor that has been circulating among online conspiracy theory circles is that Meghan was actually secretly married one time before Engelson, to a young man named Joseph Goldberg-Guiliano (although some have referred to him as Joseph Goldman-Guiliano). According to the theory, Joseph's parents allegedly disapproved, and forced them to get their marriage annulled. Records of this annulment were supposedly sealed. What evidence is there of this? Well, the National Enquirer wrote about it once, in a since-removed article.

The rabbit hole goes deeper, however, with claims that Meghan and Joseph welcomed a baby girl together, which Meghan abandoned. Then X took the wheel and just drove off into fantasyland, with users claiming that Meghan's estranged sister, Samantha Markle, has been secretly raising Meghan's daughter as her own, or that Joseph has been raising her as a single dad — and staying strangely silent about it. Ultimately, it seems this is likely yet another awful rumor Meghan simply cannot escape from.

Nearly from the day Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first met, sketchy rumors about the couple have been swirling wildly. The attention directed toward their relationship only got more intense after they got married and announced they'd be stepping away from their royal duties. Ever since then, everything they've done has been analyzed, dissected, and used as supposed evidence that their marriage is about to implode. The speculation reached a fever pitch in recent years as Meghan and Harry have been focused on individual projects, separate from one another.

As PR expert Ed Coram James told GB News in October 2024, Meghan and Harry have generated so much ill will over the years that they need to distance themselves as a couple in the public eye — although that doesn't mean they're getting divorced. "The fact is that for years they have become synonymous with one another," James said. "When combined, the Sussexes brand is, from a PR perspective, toxic. But, when separate, they have a genuine chance of creating an entirely separate brand, with completely different labels."

While Harry has repeatedly shut down speculation regarding their supposedly impending split, it hasn't stopped the rumor mill from churning. In January 2025, Vanity Fair ran a lengthy cover story about the couple, and chose to resurface a rumor that Meghan's team once pitched the idea for a book about her life after her divorce from Harry, in anticipation of it inevitably happening. However, a source told Vanity Fair, "If that's true to any degree, she would have been approached and not vice versa." The source said the rumor wasn't factual, and there's no credibility to the idea that Meghan has been looking to monetize her (rumored) eventual split from the prince.