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Meghan Markle was told she could continue acting, says Diana's biographer Andrew Morton

SUITS --
Patrick J Adams as Michael Ross and Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits. (USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Meghan Markle was not forced to give up acting by the Royal Family when she married Prince Harry it has been claimed.

Andrew Morton, who wrote Princess Diana's explosive biography in the 1990s, said that Meghan was told she could continue her acting career even after marriage.

Meghan played Rachel Zane on Suits for several seasons before she met and married Harry.

During Prince Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry revealed there was a suggestion that Meghan “carried on acting because there was not enough money to pay for her”.

He added: “There were some real obvious signs, before we even got married, that this was going to be really hard.”

While his suggestion was that Meghan might have to keep her career going because of the money, Morton indicated the family was offering the couple more freedom.

SUITS -- Season 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson, Rick Hoffmann as Louis Litt, Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane, Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter, Patrick Adams as Mike Ross -- (Photo by: Frank Ockenfels/USA/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
The cast of season one of Suits. (USA/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal)

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Morton told the Royally Obsessed podcast: "The Queen gave them [the duke and duchess] the opportunity to go wherever they pleased.

"They were given a degree of latitude.

"They were told: 'Here are your first class tickets, pick which country you want to go to, we're going to make you youth ambassadors for the Commonwealth.'

"They did say to Meghan: 'If you don't want to embrace royal duties full time please be our guest and continue your acting career.' Those opportunities were open to her."

Meghan, 39, said during the interview that she had given up "my career, my life, everything because I love him".

Watch: Piers Morgan continues to rip Meghan Markle: 'I was under attack from Miss Markle'

Previously, family members have had to give up commercial careers for senior royal work. For example, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Edward and Sophie, gave up their jobs in 2002 to support the Queen in full time royal work.

When Harry and Meghan got engaged in 2017, they gave an interview in which they discussed their relationship, with Meghan saying she did not see the change as giving anything up.

She told the BBC: "I don’t see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change. It’s a new chapter. And keep in mind I’ve been working on my show for seven years. We were very fortunate to have that sort of longevity on a series. For me, once we hit the 100 episode marker, I thought, I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work we’ve done there and now it’s time to work as a team with [Harry]."

Morton, who wrote Diana's biography with tapes she recorded and delivered to him secretly, said he noticed many similarities between the two women during the Winfrey interview.

He said: "When I was watching the interview, I was ticking off ‘yes, sense of isolation’, ‘yes, sense of desperation’, exactly what Diana was saying to me.

"But then again, friends of mine said they've seen Meghan walking from Whole Foods supermarket on Kensington High Street with bags of foods back to Kensington Palace.

"It didn't seem too much like a prison. Other friends have seen her out and about with friends at restaurants, so she seems, to me, to have led a normal life."

Meghan referred to 'The Firm' as she sat down to talk to Oprah about life in the royal family. (CBS)
Harry and Meghan during their sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey. (CBS)

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Harry, 36, and Meghan have now settled in Santa Barbara, California, having bought their own home after securing deals with Spotify and Netflix for podcasts and programming respectively.

They have so far released one podcast, and have previously said they have programmes in the works.

Harry has also secured a job as a chief impact officer for US firm BetterUp.

They are expecting their second child in the summer. It's not clear if they will both return to the UK to visit over the summer, but Harry is due to be in London for the unveiling of the statue of his mother, Princess Diana.

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