... Everyone has baggage. It's how you deal with it that matters. Harry seems to have made a strong effort to deal with his own demons. I don't know of former girlfriend distancing themselves from him for any other reasons than the natural ones that exist after a couple separate.
We don't really know about Meghan's first marriage, what the factors were.
I completely agree with you re your post. Obviously, we are all human and humans have failings. The question as you point out, is how individuals are able to deal with what happens in their lives, good and bad. Just as important is what kind of start we each get growing up. From all accounts, Meghan had an excellent start because she was nurtured and
given the wings to fly by both of her parents. Their divorce did not harshly impact Meghan's personality development and stability growing up, because her parents remained friendly and on the same page regarding raising her and being devoted to her. In response to comments by some other posters: That scenario is completely unlike what happened to Lady Diana when her parents divorced.
As far as Meghan's first marriage, here's my take based on what's available that we do know: Meghan was with her former husband, Trevor Engelson for 7 years prior to their marriage in 2011. In addition, she had landed the role in
Suits after an audition right around the time of her marriage. Meghan initially met Engelson in her early twenties. Surely she must have been taken with him and his burgeoning success as a film director. Engelson is five years older than Meghan. I think very often it can make something of a difference re how long the partnership will last being in your early twenties and dating a guy who is five years older with some experience and budding stature in the world of Hollywood.
Engelson and Meghan must have met sometime around 2004 when she was 22 or 23 and he was 27 or 28. Meghan played a cameo role as a bartender in Engelson's film,
Remember Me circa 2009-10, which starred Robert Pattinson. That could have been Engelson's ticket to even bigger projects, but it doesn't seem as if he was able to segue that earlier opportunity into greater success in Hollywood. Meanwhile, on the relationship front after 7 years, some couples are so used to being together they may decide to take the next logical step of marriage, when maybe their relationship has already run its course. Perhaps both parties can become so comfortable with a 7-year relationship that it's difficult to cut the cord.
Obviously, it didn't help their newly minted marriage when Meghan had to relocate to Toronto for filming of the
Suits pilot, immediately after they wed. In the television industry, there's no guarantee that a pilot will be picked up, much less that it will become a steadily increasing success after being picked up. The ingredients for the delectable series,
Suits, melded well together, thus feeding and nurturing the careers of all involved from the beginning.
Toronto is a cosmopolitan city, very different from L.A. It's also part of the British commonwealth. Meghan slowly began making new friends and gaining fame locally. Fairly soon, she became tight with stylist, Jessica Mulroney, the daughter-in-law of the former Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney. She eventually also became friendly with current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and his wife, Sophie. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Meghan began making a name for herself in fashion, beauty, and entertainment in Hollywood, Toronto, Chicago, and in charitable/ cultural circles in Toronto, New York, and beyond.
So after two years of trying to keep her marriage with Engelson together, Meghan and Engelson called it quits in 2013 amid unfounded rumors that she was seeing someone else in Toronto. Actually, she was hanging out with a lot of interesting people in Toronto, including her castmates, local sports stars, designer friends and beauty specialists in Toronto, New York, Chicago, and Miami. She also had friends based in London and in Hollywood where her
Suits success was garnering her increasing buzz. She may have met Markus Anderson of Soho House around 2013 or 2014. And during 2014 to 2015, her passion project, The Tig, began flourishing and adding to her success, to her circle of influential movers and shakers, and to her ever growing career opportunities. Also, most importantly for Meghan, she had achieved prominence and developed a platform from which she could effectively give back to others.
Therefore, even before moving to Toronto, it seems likely that Meghan had already nearly outgrown her relationship with Engelson, at the very start of their marriage. After having the world open up for her in new and exciting ways in Toronto, it's no wonder that Meghan's long distance marriage (which was probably hanging by a thread for two years) broke up. Her life and career possibilities quite frankly grew beyond Engelson's. To boot even now, Engelson finds himself trying to hustle up new projects while teaching and networking. Apparently, he has also been doing some work in television.
With Meghan's unexpected worldwide fame ratcheted up by suddenly being connected with British royalty, Engelson is attempting to cash in on their former relationship, which maybe says something about his character. He was obviously not the 'keeper' kind of guy. Not for the Meghan whose life changed and expanded into limitless possibilities soon after she landed the 'Rachel Zane' role in
Suits, and the show's success took off like a rocket. It's not the 'success' that made Meghan. It's Meghan who took the opportunities that came her way and made her own success, and then some.