An Extremely Detailed Analysis of Meghan Markle’s Lifestyle Blog
By Josh Duboff. Photos: Getty Images.
Long before she was Prince Harry’s girlfriend, Meghan Markle was, as you’re probably aware, a successful actress with a starring role on USA’s Suits, as well as the founder of a lifestyle site called The Tig. (“Tig” refers to an American mispronunciation of Tignanello wine—don’t worry about it.) Markle purports on the site to provide a “hub for the discerning palate—those with a hunger for food, travel, fashion & beauty,” making it not dissimilar to, yep, a Goop or a (R.I.P.) Preserve.
As Harry and Meghan’s romance continues to flourish—the two just attended a wedding together in Jamaica, their odds of getting married as set by London bookkeepers never higher—Markle has been extremely tight-lipped in the press, understandably. This means, with little to go on, or suggestion as to where her head is at, her Tig output, which she has maintained since their relationship started, provides our best resource at the moment.
It seemed high time—if not also a little obsessive and insane—to take a careful look back through Markle’s recent Tig content, starting with when she and Harry reportedly first got together last May. Upon analysis, a theme emerges: Markle seems pretty low-key! For the most part, Markle comes off as a practical (if occasionally quite whimsical), individual. She likes her playlists, her favorite foods, and her friends, and . . . that seems to be the bulk of it. (There are no $575 umbrellas being featured on the Tig.) Harry has always, by royal standards, seemed quite unmannered, as well. He has never appeared to be someone especially enamored of the pomp and circumstance associated with his standing. What else is on The Tig that we can overanalyze—with an added bonus for anything that potentially indicates what makes Harry and Meghan such a good match?
She throws low-key celebrations. Markle shared a lengthy post in July about a bachelorette weekend she planned for her “best friend” Lindsay. She notes that instead of organizing festivities involving “running around a city and trying to get into clubs and wearing headbands of the phallic persuasion,” which would not be very “on brand” for them, she was hoping for something more low-key, planning a relaxing trip to Hydra, Greece. A reminder—simple, clear—that she has moved past any clubbing days, not dissimilar from the perceived intentions of a certain royal we know!
She is not interested in fictional tales of romance. In a post about her favorite vacation reads, Markle recommends Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient. She writes, “Here’s the thing – just as with the movie, The Notebook, I have never seen these endlessly romantic love stories that people speak about with such tremendous adoration, nor have I read the books of which they are based. So…this is the time. Not for The Notebook, but rather to dig into the epic World War II love affair called, The English Patient. There’s a reason it’s a classic. I’m about to discover why.” Why is this the time, Meghan?! Might it have something to do with an endlessly romantic real-life love story you might be casually familiar with?
She has a bit of an edge to her. It is probably verging on the ridiculous to analyze this answer in any way, but Markle notes in a questionnaire that “everything tastes better . . . with a little hot sauce,” which feels to us like the exact same answer Harry would give to that question?
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She is cool just staying home! Though she clearly loves travel, she reminds us that she very much enjoys a staycation, too. “Sometimes jumping on a plane, train or automobile isn’t in the cards, and your only opportunity to vacate is at home sweet home,” she notes. For Harry (and now Meghan, too), getting tracked and photographed in public is now sadly part of the day-to-day existence, so it is probably an especially good thing that she does not seem to mind.
In fact, she does not mind hanging out without anyone else, entirely! An entire post about living independently and being O.K. with doing things like “seeing a movie alone” and “taking yourself out to dinner”!?!? Meghan was clearly going through something at this point. Seriously, though, this comfort with being independent is no doubt helpful when dating a person with the demands on him that Harry has.
Want specific proof she is cool being on her own? She spent a whole month on an Eat, Pray, Love–type adventure. There is much to parse in Markle’s “Eat, Pray, Love” post from September, in which she explains that she spent much of her August attempting to “eat everything, pray (and meditate) often, and simply love my life, every ounce of it.” She shares all sorts of Instagram-travel-porn photos, and describes, in fairly vague terms, how she was able to take some time off to celebrate life with friends and food and experiences. This coincides with a likely inflection point in her relationship with Prince Harry, having been with him several months but with the news not public yet. Were they having a mild rough patch, this entry the version of a “See, I’m doing great!” Facebook status when newly single? Or maybe she was just having a really great August, and she wanted to share some great sangria pics.
Her main focus for the holidays? How to be sustainable. In two posts, timed for when she would be celebrating her first holidays with Harry (Markle jetted to London for part of December), she featured two separate posts about the conscientious manner in which she observes the holidays: one focused on “sustainable holiday celebration tips,” and the other on “holiday gifts that give back.” It is not hard to imagine her accompanying Harry on any sort of trips or appearances he might be making on behalf of his charitable causes, as she has been involved with her own causes for years.
She has famous friends, but it is no big deal. Markle shares that she once met Michael Bublé at a dinner party in November 2015, and that he’s “one hell of a dinner companion.” (She then shares Bublé’s holiday playlist.) Yeah, she ate with Bublé and felt comfortable enough asking him to curate a playlist for her site, but don’t worry about it.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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