The Atlantic

My Time With the British Aristocracy

As a black American woman married to a member of Britain’s upper class, I have caught just a glimpse of Meghan Markle’s world.
Source: Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty

The world Meghan Markle entered when she married Prince Harry is unlike any other. But, as a black American woman married to a member of Britain’s upper class, I have caught just a glimpse of it, from a roughly similar perspective.

For a while I lived in London and, through the man who would become my husband, I was introduced to some of the ancient class dynamics that permeate British society. He went to Eton, the elite boys’ boarding school attended by Prince William, Prince Harry, and many prime ministers.

Once, I went with him to the christening of

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