Meghan Markle Had A Totally Different Plan For Herself Before She Went Into Acting

Before Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, pursued a career in acting, she was following another surprising career path — on another continent. When Meghan was still a student at Northwestern University in Illinois, majoring in theater and international studies, she was actually interested in pursuing a career in politics. "I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this cliché — a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress," Meghan told Marie Claire in 2013. "I wanted more than that, and I had always loved politics, so I ended up changing my major completely, and double-majoring in theater and international relations."

To get an idea of what a career in politics might look like, Meghan landed an internship in the press office of the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. For six weeks, a 20-year-old Meghan lived in Buenos Aires, perfecting her Spanish and learning the ropes. While appearing in the Netflix documentary "Polo," Meghan's husband, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, bragged about one of Meghan's hidden talents: how she's fluent in Spanish, thanks in large part to her internship in Argentina. According to Hello!, Meghan also revealed that she lived in Palermo Viejo and Las Cañitas — two trendy, upscale neighborhoods — during her time in Argentina.

While in Argentina, Meghan Markle took the Foreign Service Officer Test, a three-hour test that serves as the first step to becoming a U.S. diplomat. According to the Daily Mail, Meghan failed this test, but decided to further perfect her language skills by taking a Spanish course at the International Education for Students program in Madrid, Spain. Despite all the work she put into this future political career, Meghan inevitably decided to pursue a career in acting. From 2002 until she retired from acting after marrying Prince Harry in 2018, Meghan lived a lavish life, appearing in various roles including as a series regular on "Suits" and the leading lady in two Hallmark movies.

As a member of the royal family, Meghan has since used her influence and celebrity status to advocate for a number of causes often under the political microscope (despite the fact that the royal family has historically remained politically neutral), including reproductive rights, safeguards around artificial intelligence, family leave, and voter registration. Despite her involvement in political and social causes, Meghan isn't exactly ready to return to a career in politics. During an interview with "The Jamie Kern Lima Show" in 2025, Meghan's first podcast interview, she revealed she had no real interest in running for a political office. "No," Meghan replied to Kern Lima, who asked her if she'd ever run for office, according to People, adding, "Never. Oh, God. I mean, you could say, 'Never say never.' No, I'm not interested in that."