Asking a partner to sign a prenup is awkward enough, but a pregnancy contract? It wasn't
exactly smooth sailing for Meghan Markle and her first husband, Trevor Engelson.
Meghan Markle's first husband is a very successful Hollywood producer and talent
agent named Trevor Engelson. Engelson has worked on a number of different projects
featuring A-list celebrities, including "License to Wed," "Remember Me," "All
About Steve," "Deep Blue Sea," and the crime series "Snowfall."
At the time they got together, Engelson was five years older than Markle. The two began
dating in 2004 and were a couple for almost seven years before announcing their engagement in 2011.
Considering Meghan Markle worked as an actress and Trevor Engelson was a talent agent and producer,
it seems as if this relationship was a match made in heaven ... at first.
Prior to becoming a producer, Trevor Engelson interned at NBC's "The Tonight Show" as well
as on films across New York City. He would go on to start his own production
company called Underground in 2001. The company represents many actors, directors,
and creators and has produced a lot of successful projects.
Meghan Markle, on the other hand, was best known for her role as
Rachel Zane in "Suits." She was also featured in "When Sparks Fly," CSI:
Miami," "Castle," and "90210." The actress landed her first small role in 2002 playing
a nurse in "General Hospital" and would eventually be cast in a commercial and
a few Hallmark movies. She even started her own lifestyle blog in 2014 called "The Tig."
Meghan Markle and Trevor Engelson tied the knot with a casual beachfront wedding in Ocho Rios,
Jamaica, in September 2011. According to the Daily Mail,
the wedding ceremony lasted over a span of four days, during which the newlyweds and more than
100 guests enjoyed the festivities. Soon after the wedding celebration,
the two began their new life together in a gated home reportedly above Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.
During her marriage with Engelson, Markle was spotted with different wedding and
engagement ring combinations. According to Harper's Bazaar,
her first wedding ring was a princess-cut solitaire with simple diamond bands.
Meghan Markle and Trevor Engelson's marriage was fairly short-lived. As Us Weekly reported,
she quietly filed for divorce in August 2013 and the couple parted ways. So what happened?
Well, just a few months before they got married, Markle landed her role
as Rachel Zane on "Suits." Not only did her career quickly skyrocket,
but drastic changes were also happening in her relationship.
In royal biographer Andrew Morton's 2018 book, "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess," the
author claimed that their marriage was quickly falling apart. He wrote,
Due to the new television role, Markle was required to move to Toronto to start filming,
while Engelson remained in California for his own work. Between Markle's
sudden rise in popularity because of "Suits," the distance between them,
and their different schedules, the couple found themselves dealing with a lot of stress.
Markle's friend Ninaki Priddy revealed to the Daily Mail that while distance was
the biggest difficulty in their relationship, the couple got into arguments. She explained,
Typically, when relationships start to fail, it's evident to both partners
that things aren't working out — but not in this case. Five years after their divorce,
more and more information about Meghan Markle's split from her first husband continued to emerge
in the media. After Morton's book, "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess," was released, it was revealed
that Engelson was left completely blindsided by their relationship ending. Morton wrote,
According to Morton, while Markle was gaining popularity thanks to her newfound fame after
being cast in "Suits," Engelson's career in Hollywood was at a standstill. Even after
trying to rekindle their relationship with a vacation to Vietnam together,
things just didn't work out in their favor. After years apart,
Morton claimed that Engelson was still extremely upset over their relationship ending.
Shortly after his split with Meghan Markle,
Trevor Engelson attempted to move on by taking reality TV star Bethenny Frankel
out on a date. While appearing on the "Kyle & Jackie O" radio show, Frankel revealed,
When Markle went public with her relationship with Prince Harry in 2016,
Frankel claimed to have immediately texted Engelson. As she explained,
Although they went on one date together, Frankel made it clear that moving forward,
their relationship was strictly business — and
there is a specific reason why. On the radio show, she said,
Four years after their divorce, news spread that Trevor Engelson was in the
process of pitching a TV show that appeared to be somewhat similar to
what happened between him and Meghan Markle. According to Town & Country,
the Fox Studios "divorce comedy" was originally based on a couple with children who would
soon separate when the husband is left for a British prince, forcing them to share custody.
However, Deadline reported that the show was completely fictional and not based on Markle and
Engelson's relationship, seeing as how the couple split before she met Prince Harry and don't share
children. Regardless, the news outlet speculated that the show was loosely based on true events.
In March 2018, the New York Post reported that Engelson officially pulled the plug
on his television project. An insider revealed to The Sun that Markle's close friends spoke
with the producer before the royal wedding and were able to convince him to cancel the show.
After his split from Meghan Markle, Trevor Engelson eventually found love again. In
June 2018, Us Weekly reported that after dating for three years, he proposed to dietician Tracey
Kurland while on a wine tour in California's Napa Valley. Before he got back in the dating game,
a source explained to The Sun just how badly the divorce had affected him.
Engelson and Kurland tied the knot in Montecito, California in May 2019,
and in August 2020, they welcomed their first child together — a baby girl named Ford Grace.
The following year, a source revealed to Us Weekly that the couple would be
expecting another baby. Their second daughter was born later in 2021.
In October 2018, rumors began to spread that Meghan Markle made her ex-husband
sign a "pregnancy contract" to make sure that her needs and demands would be met if
she were to ever become pregnant and have a child with him. According to the Daily Mail,
a close friend revealed many details of Markle's life during her first marriage,
including her request that Engelson pay for a personal trainer and nutritionist to help her
remain healthy throughout the potential pregnancy. In addition, Markle allegedly organized childcare
arrangements in this rumored contract. As the source revealed to the Daily Mail,
The source later claimed that no lawyers were involved in signing the so-called contract,
but Engelson did sign some sort of paperwork.
After practically nine total years together, one might very easily assume that Meghan
Markle and Trevor Engelson loved each other at a certain point in their lives. In April 2018,
Cosmopolitan reported that in an installment of "Celebrity Couples:
Decoded," body language expert Blanca Cobb compared photographs of Markle and
Engelson to Markle and Prince Harry throughout different stages of each of their relationships.
Although there were times at the beginning of Markle's relationship with Engelson when there
were true sparks when they were together, Cobb claims that the way she engages with
Prince Harry is closer, brighter, and always features a bigger smile.
While she was discussing her and Harry's engagement announcement image, Cobb said,
In the end, Markle's photographs alongside Prince Harry always revealed more affection
than those next to Engelson. When speaking of Markle and Engelson's relationship, Cobb said,